Red tide warning up in Negros Oriental town

 

The Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) in Negros Oriental has warned against human consumption of shellfish collected from Tambobo Bay in Siaton town due to a significant increase in microalgae that causes a red tide.

Provincial agriculture officer Nestor Villaflores, in an interview, said his office made the recommendation after a surge in red tide-causing dinoflagellate or microalgae was discovered in the bay in recent weeks.

On Monday, a team from the PAO, led by marine biologist Wilmencita Pialago, did a red tide monitoring on the density of the Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum, a red tide-causing dinoflagellate.

In a report, the PAO Red Tide Task Force said “these particular microalgae can grow exponentially and is harmful to humans, resulting in the occurrence of red tide.”

The team took water samples and shellfish meat samples for analysis which shall also be forwarded to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for confirmation.

Sampling results showed that the cell density of the Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum had significantly increased from the last time samples were tested.

This particular dinoflagellate has spread across the entire Tambobo Bay at “very significant cell counts”, the report said.

Villaflores said that weekly monitoring and sampling will be done at the bay to determine the intensity of the algal bloom and its level of toxicity.

Toxic algae contaminate shellfish, which can lead to human illnesses, such as paralytic shellfish poisoning.

“We have also advised the local chief executive in Siaton to announce the stoppage of shellfish collection and consumption at Tambobo Bay until the red tide event has subsided,” Villaflores said.

There is no telling, however, when the algal bloom will decrease to a level that is no longer harmful to humans, he added.* (PNA)