According to state officials the state Department of Environmental Services and Fish and Game Department has halted clam, mussel and oyster harvesting after finding unacceptably high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning — “red tide” — in blue mussels at the Isles of Shoals and Hampton/Seabrook Harbor.
The DES shellfish programme manager Chris Nash informed that this year’s red tide alert comes earlier than usual for Hampton Harbor. He said that the toxin levels at the Isles of Shoals have shown up a bit earlier than usual at Hampton/Seabrook Harbor. Peter Tilton, owner of the Defiant Lobster Company in Hampton, said that it happens every year. He added that Maine has a huge coastline and red tide can be localized due to wind and current patterns.
As per a DES statement the red tide hits when filter-feeding clams, oysters and mussels accumulate a powerful neurotoxin produced by a naturally occurring marine algae. Nash informed that two oyster operations in Great Bay may also be affected if this intensifies to the levels being seen offshore.
It was told that other New Hampshire shellfish harvesting areas, including the oyster beds around Nannie Island and Adams Point in Great Bay, were temporarily closed last week due to heavy rainfall, and will stay closed until more red tide and bacteria tests are done. Nash said weekly sampling will continue but it is difficult to predict what will happen to the toxic levels.
