Dagupan tightens watch on shellfish market

DAGUPAN CITY—Agriculture personnel are guarding the city’s public markets against any shellfish shipment from red-tide-hit towns in Pangasinan province that may be sold here.

“It’s no-entry for all shellfish. Only locally produced and harvested shellfish are allowed,” ity agriculturist Emma Molina said.

On Friday, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) raised a red-tide alarm in the towns of Bolinao, Anda and Bani and Alaminos City in western Pangasinan and banned the gathering, sale, transport and consumption of all shellfish from the area. Covered by the ban are mussels, oysters, clams and alamang (small shrimps).

The BFAR, in its shellfish bulletin, said fish, squid, shrimp and crab are safe for human consumption provided they are fresh and washed thoroughly, and internal organs, such as gills and intestines, are removed before cooking.

The ban came after a 49-year-old woman in Bolinao died on Wednesday after eating mussels gathered from a village in the town.

On Saturday, Bolinao administrator Fred Castelo said 33 people had fallen ill by eating red-tide-contaminated mussels and were being treated in different hospitals in the province.

Most of the victims were from Barangay Ilog Malino, while the rest were from the villages of Zaragoza, Balingasay, Lambes and Luciente 1st. Four fishermen aboard a fishing boat from neighboring Zambales province were also victims.

In an earlier interview, Nestor Domenden, BFAR Ilocos director, said these people showed symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning caused by red tide toxin.

Domenden said the BFAR’s tests showed that the level of algal bloom suddenly increased in Bolinao’s waters.

He said monitoring activities were conducted every Tuesday and samples were sent to the BFAR laboratory for testing. The results were sent back to the regional office only on Friday afternoon.

“Sadly, there were residents who ate mussels (tahong) on Tuesday and Wednesday when we did not have the results and had not issued an advisory yet,” he said.

He said the youngest victim was 3 years old while the oldest was 77.

Castelo, in a text message, said fish traders in his town had stopped transporting any kind of shellfish.

Molina said city agriculture office personnel were checking on auxiliary invoices of shellfish not harvested nor produced in this city.

An auxiliary invoice is a transport permit that shows the origin of a product.

She said her office had conducted an information dissemination campaign to warn residents here against buying shellfish that came from red-tide-hit areas. Reports from Gabriel Cardinoza and Yolanda Sotelo, Inquirer N. Luzon