WELLFLEET, MA – JUNE 13: Shellfish farmers who can afford to do so plant quahog seed at Indian Neck June 13, 2005 in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. Others wait until they are permitted to harvest shellfish because of the high cost of the seed. Farmers in Welfleet Harbor are not being allowed to harvest shellfish because of an outbreak of algae bloom known as red tide, called the worst in decades by marine officials. States officials from Massachusetts to Maine have closed shellfish grounds in response. The algea does not harm oysters or other filter feeders like clams and mussels, but can cause serious illness among humans that injest the infected shellfish. (Photo by Jodi Hilton/Getty Images)
Shellfishing has been banned along large portions of the Massachusetts coast because of toxic red tide, state officials said.
The state Division of Marine Fisheries on Thursday banned harvesting of all softshell and razor clams, the Gloucester Daily Times reported Friday. That ban came the day after the harvest of blue mussels, carnivorous snails and whole sea scallops was prohibited because of elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poison, also known as red tide.
The red tide affecting Massachusetts is different from the type killing fish in Florida, and swimming remains safe, Gloucester shellfish warden Peter Seminara said.
Red tide is a neurotoxin produced by naturally occurring marine algae. “Filter-feeding shellfish ingest it and it gets concentrated in the meat,” he said.
