Red Tide Forces Shut Down of Shellfishing In New Hampshire’s Coastal Waters

May 9, 2008

The Red Tide has made its presence known a little too early in our coastal waters this year and that’s bad news for shellfish lovers and harvesters.

Yesterday the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services banned and closed the harvesting of shellfish in New Hampshire’s coastal waters, including the waters of Hampton & Seabrook Harbor, until further notice due to elevated levels of the neurotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, commonly known as “red tide,” in blue mussels that were collected in Hampton/Seabrook Harbor and out at the Isles of Shoals.

“Red tide toxicity levels are increasing right now, in both offshore and near-shore waters,” said Chris Nash, Shellfish Program Manager for DES. “It is too soon to know how severe this algae bloom will be, or how long it might last.” He noted that weekly sampling will continue from now until October.

The nature of red tide blooms varies from year to year, according to Nash. A red tide bloom in 2005 was the most widespread and toxic event on record for New Hampshire waters, while the past two years experienced less-severe events, characterized by high toxicity in the offshore Atlantic waters and lower levels of toxin along the beaches. It is too soon to know what the nature of this year’s bloom will be, although toxicity in Hampton/Seabrook is appearing earlier than in previous years.

Red tide is a condition in which filter-feeding molluscan shellfish such as clams, oysters and mussels accumulate a potent neurotoxin produced by a naturally occurring marine algae. Ingesting the toxin is potentially fatal to humans, and cooking does not make contaminated shellfish safe for consumption.

For More Information: