Shellfish gleaners who earn their living from gathering seashells and selling them in the Tagbilaran City market can now go back to gleaning for shellfish. This after BFAR has declared the seas here freed from red tide. (PIA Bohol)
TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol (PIA) – It is now safe to glean for seashells and crustaceans from the coastal waters of Tagbilaran Bay and Dauis.
This as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), in its Shellfish Bulletins from Aug. 3 to date, found no more traces of the harmful Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) or most commonly known as red tide in fish, squids, shrimps, crabs, and all types of shellfish that can be gleaned in the said areas.
For over a decade, the BFAR has issued a no harvesting, no selling, no buying and no eating advisory of shellfish and marine food collected from the coastal waters of Tagbilaran City and Dauis.
The BFAR advisories have urged local government units to implement measures to keep people whose livelihood depends on gleaning to stay out of the areas where gathering of shellfish is banned.
Succeeding shellfish bulletins by the BFAR continued to announce the presence of high levels of PSP in shellfish and fish gathered from the area.
The lagoon which formed after the construction of Dauis Borja Bridge has restricted the free flow of the water during tidal changes in the area.
In its Shellfish Bulletin No 2, series of 2025, which is the latest bulletin issued on Jan. 8, 2025, BFAR has now listed Irong-irong Bay in Samar, coastal waters of Daram Island in Samar, Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar, Dumanquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur and the coast waters of Tungawan ni Zamboanga Sibugay Province still positive for PSP or the toxic red tide that is beyond the regulatory limits.
In these areas, all types of shellfish and uyap gathered from here are not safe for human consumption.
Moreover, fish, squids, shrimps and crabs are safe for human consumption provided that they are fresh and washed thoroughly and the internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking.
The same bulletin listed the coastal waters of Tagbilaran City and Dauis as free from toxic red tide. (RAHC/PIA Bohol)
