Overview
- The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment said tests taken on 25 May found paralytic shellfish toxins in mussels and oysters at more than 15 times the regulatory safety limit.
- On 29 May the DFFE closed Saldanha Bay production areas for human consumption and issued an urgent public warning against collecting or eating any wild shellfish from the area.
- Laboratory results also recorded high concentrations of Alexandrium catenella, the algae that produces the toxins responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning.
- Eating contaminated shellfish can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, a severe nerve illness that can include numbness, breathing trouble and death, and toxins are not reliably removed by cooking.
- Authorities are expanding sampling along the West Coast to map how far contamination has spread and will issue further updates; local fishers and recreational harvesters should avoid wild shellfish until testing clears areas.