BFAR seizes 3 tons of red tide-contaminated shellfish in Samar

TACLOBAN CITY, Jan. 18 (PNA) – About three tons of red tide contaminated shellfish harvested in Samar province have been seized and buried by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in the past few weeks.

The shellfish locally known as “barinday” have been seized in Allen, Northern Samar port for delivery to Manila-based exporters with market ties abroad.

“Since we impose shellfish ban in the last quarter of 2015, we have stepped up our watch in ports. Barinday is the most commonly transported specie since this is for export to Taiwan,” said BFAR Regional Director Juan D. Albaladejo.

BFAR has raised shellfish ban over Carigara Bay in Carigara, Barugo, San Miguel, Capoocan, and Leyte towns in Leyte province; Biliran Strait in Naval, Caibiran, Cabucgayan, Culaba, Kawayan, and Almeria in Biliran province; and coastal waters of Leyte, Leyte.

Red tide alert is also up over Cambatutay Bay in Tarangnan, Samar; Irong Irong Bay in Catbalogan City, Samar; and Maqueda Bay in Catbalogan City, Motiong, Paranas, Pinabacdao, Hinabangan, San Sebastian, and Calbiga, Samar.

Albaladejo clarified that among the bays affected late last year, only coastal waters in Villareal and Jiabong in Samar have been confirmed free from red tide toxins.

Since October this year, Eastern Visayas region has been threatened by what the BFAR described as the biggest red tide bloom that has not been seen in more than three decades.

The fisheries bureau blamed the prolong dry season this year and sudden downpour as the major factor that triggered the bloom in eight bays and coastal waters, considered as the region’s major source of shellfish.

From late November until early December, the infestation was alarming since the color of water turned to copper red with a depth of six to nine meters, stretching up to a kilometer from the shoreline, according to Albaladejo.

The discoloration of seawater is triggered by massive population growth of few species of a type of algae that produce toxins.

Between November to December 2015, paralytic shellfish poisoning has killed a seven-year-old boy in Carigara, Leyte and a 62-year-old man in Caibiran, Biliran, according to BFAR. (PNA)
FPV/SARWELL Q. MENIANO