By Sarwell Meniano
TACLOBAN CITY – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has confirmed on Wednesday the presence of toxic red tide in the coastal waters of Zumarraga, Samar.
As a precautionary measure, the BFAR raised a local red tide warning for Zumarraga where the public is strictly advised not to collect, sell, or eat any type of shellfish, including small shrimps.
The coastal water will soon be included in the national shellfish bulletin or areas with confirmed presence of red tide found through laboratory examination of shellfish meat samples.
Included in the latest national bulletin is Matarinao Bay in General MacArthur, Quinapondan, Hernani, and Salcedo towns in Eastern Samar. It means that both shellfish and seawater samples gathered in the area tested positive for red tide.
Earlier, a local red tide warning was raised in Cancabato Bay in Tacloban City and Irong-Irong Bay in Catbalogan City in Samar province.
Seawater samples collected in these bays were found to have toxins.
Fish, squid, shrimp, and crabs gathered in these areas are safe for human consumption if they are fresh and washed thoroughly and the internal organs, such as gills and intestines, are removed before cooking.
“To safeguard human lives, we are issuing this warning as precautionary advice to the public to refrain from gathering, selling, and eating all types of shellfish and Acetes sp., locally known as alamang or hipon, from these bays,” BFAR said in its local shellfish bulletin.
The seawater condition can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning and death.
Nationwide, there are only three bays included in the latest national shellfish bulletin. The other two are Dumanquilas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur and the coastal waters of Tungawan in Zamboanga Sibugay.
BFAR said the presence of red tide cysts in the region’s bays triggered the recurrence of the phenomenon. Frequent rains may cause the runoff of soil sediments rich in organic matter that fertilize the red tide cyst. (PNA)
