Scallop season opens but warning remains over toxin

The scallop season opened this week but health officials are still warning shellfish collectors against eating shellfish from much of the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula.

Toi Te Ora Public Health (the Bay of Plenty DHB) reissued a warning on Wednesday, advising people not to eat shellfish collected from the entire coastline from Tairua (including Tairua Harbour) south, including Opoutere, Onemana, Whangamata, and Whiritoa, east along the Bay of Plenty coastline from Waihi Beach, including Tauranga Harbour to the mouth of the Whakatane River in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

Weekly monitoring has found high levels of paralytic shellfish poison is still present in shellfish in the affected area and consumption of the toxin can cause numbness and tingling around the mouth, face or extremities, difficulty swallowing or breathing, dizziness, double vision, and in severe cases, paralysis and respiratory failure.

The safety warning has been in place since December.

Government officials have also issued a reminder to people of the minimum size limits and penalties for those who flout the rules.

Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley said shellfish collectors needed to make sure they know bag limits, size limits and seasons before they go fishing.

The minimum legal size for scallops is 100 millimetres measured across the widest part of the shell.

The legal daily bag limit for scallops is 20 for each person.

Divers may take an extra bag for each of up to two people on board a boat, provided they are acting as safety people for the divers.

When dredging for scallops, only those actively involved in fishing are entitled to a daily bag limit.

Fishery officers will be patrolling the beaches and inspecting scallop catches. Fines of $250 to $500 per offence can be imposed on people who ignore the rules.

- © Fairfax NZ News