ILOILO – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region 6 urged residents, fisherfolks and fish vendors in Carles town here to temporarily stop collecting, selling and consuming shellfish and Acetes sp. (locally known as “alamang”) from barangays Asluman and Gabi in Gigantes island.
Results of the laboratory examination conducted by BFAR Regional Fisheries Laboratory VI – using Lateral Flow ImmunoChromatography (LFIC) screening – on samples collected from the said barangays showed them positive with paralytic shellfish poison (PSP).
According to BFAR-6 regional director Remia Appari, due to the regular monitoring of areas that had red tide before, like Carles, red tide or harmful algal bloom was discovered.
And, to safeguard human lives and mitigate the impacts on the shellfish industry, while waiting for the BFAR central office’s confirmatory results using Receptor Binding Assay (RBA), the BFAR-6 issued the warning as a precautionary measure to the public.
“May warning sa tanan nga mga tawo, fisherfolks, nga indi magkuha or gather, indi magkaon, and indi magbaligya sang mga pakinhason, even alamang or hipon within areas nga may red tide kay indi mo maseparar sang maayo kon hugasan ukon tinluan,” Aparri told Panay News.
Moreover, the regional director clarified that fish, squid, crab, and shrimp are safe to eat, provided that all entrails are removed and washed thoroughly with running water before cooking.
Shellfish or acetes with high PSP may cause allergy, headaches, vomiting, or for those with low immunity or comorbidity — death.
“Kon taas ang level sang toxin sa ginakaon mo may nagakapatay or mortality kay depende man ini sa lawas and resistensya mo,” added Aparri.
As such, Aparri called on the public to obey the warning and take precaution to avoid risks, especially those from the said barangays.
Also, to ensure no one will violate BFAR-6’s advisory, its personnel are strictly monitoring the waters of the said localities in coordination with the local government of Carles and barangay officials.
Aparri also assured that another advisory will be released as soon as possible once the laboratory test indicates that shellfish and acetes from two barangays are safe to eat./PN
