SAMAL, Bataan – The shellfish ban due to the emergence of red tide in the coastal waters of Bataan for the second day Saturday means bleak Christmas for fishermen and other dependents.
Priscilla Banal said they stopped Friday noon selling green mussels and oysters upon learning of the presence of the red tide.
Banal has been in the shellfish business for many years in a makeshift stall along the MacArthur Highway here.
“Wala kaming hanapbuhay. Paano na mga bata, magpapasko pa naman. Wala kaming ibang pinagkakakitaan. Sana madaliin ang pag-verify kung talagang toxic ang dagat,” Banal said.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources announced through an advisory on Friday that samples of shellfish collected in the coastal waters of Bataan tested positive for paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Danilo Abrera, fisheries division chief of the office of the provincial agriculturist, said the toxicity level in the shellfish samples taken from the area are above the regulatory limit of 60 ugSTXeq/100 grams of shellfish meat.
“The public is advised to refrain from eating, gathering and harvesting, transporting and marketing shellfish from eight towns and a city in Bataan until such time that the toxicity level has gone below the regulatory limit,” Abrera said.
Included in the ban are shellfish from the towns of Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay and Mariveles and the City of Balanga.
Abrera said that crabs, shrimps and fish are safe to eat but that these sea products should be fresh and properly cleaned
“Sa Abucay malinis ang dagat, bakit pinapahinto ang hanapbuhay namin. Iyan lang inaasahan namin. Wala kaming kakainin. Kung saan may red tide dapat doon lang. Sa amin wala namang problema,” said John Lloyd Manac of Barangay Wawa in Abucay.
“Kung totoo man na may red tide, sana maaksiyunan agad para hindi magtagal dahil magpapasko na,” the fisherman said.
Rodolfo Guanzon, Jr., Wawa barangay chairman, appealed to authorities that the shellfish ban advisory be issued two or three days in advance. He said he received notice of the ban only at 2:30 in the afternoon of Friday.
“Ang nagsisiani ng tahong umaga pa lang umaalis na kaya hindi nila alam na may red tide. Ang inani nila nasayang lang, nasira,” the village head said.
“Palagay ko walang aani ngayon (Sabado) dahil walang namimili. Marami ang nasirang tahong kahapon (Biyernes). Ang iba kinain,” Guanzon said.
Green mussels are raised in bamboo cages along Manila Bay in the towns of Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay and Mariveles and the City of Balanga.
