CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Central Luzon conducted another red tide study in various parts of the region and announced yesterday that shellfish harvested locally have remained safe for human consumption.
In a new bulletin, BFAR said “Bulacan, Zambales and Bataan provinces remain free from paralytic shellfish poison or red tide.”
“The coastal waters of Bulacan in Manila Bay, the Masinloc Bay in Zambales and coastal waters of Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pilar, Balanga, Orani, Abucay and Samal in Bataan remain free of the toxic red tide,” BFAR said.
BFAR said it will regularly check shellfish meat samples from traditional sources to make sure that shellfish in Central Luzon are safe for human consumption.
This, even as other areas also examined by BFAR indicated red tide occurrence. “Shellfishes collected from Dumanquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur, Murcielagos Bay in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental are still positive for paralytic shellfish poison,” BFAR said.
BFAR stressed that “all types of shellfish and ‘alamang’ from these areas are not safe for human consumption.”
It said, however, that fish, squids, shrimps and crabs are safe for human consumption provided that they are fresh and washed thoroughly and internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking.
