Overview
- The B.C. Centre for Disease Control issued a public advisory on June 18 urging people to check shellfish sites before harvesting because higher summer water temperatures can increase microbes that produce marine toxins.
- The toxins most often contaminate mussels, clams, oysters, scallops and crab, and they can also appear in plankton‑feeding species such as cockles, whelks, prawns and squid.
- Eating contaminated shellfish can cause paralytic, diarrhetic or amnesic shellfish poisoning with symptoms that start within minutes to up to 48 hours and that can include numbness, paralysis or severe gastrointestinal illness.
- The BCCDC says cooking will kill viruses and bacteria but does not reliably remove these marine toxins, so residents should check the agency’s daily shellfish‑harvesting map, harvest on a receding tide, keep shellfish chilled, and follow basic food‑safety steps.
- If neurological symptoms appear after eating shellfish, call 911 or go to an emergency room, and for diarrhea or vomiting contact the Drug and Poison Information Centre at 1-800-567-8911 or HealthLink BC at 811; past incidents such as the 2019 Pacific oyster recall show monitoring can lead to site closures or recalls.