5 Pangasinan areas red tide-free

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines — Five coastal areas in Pangasinan remain free of the algae that produces red tide, authorities said yesterday.

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said that shrimps, crabs and seashells such as mussels and oysters harvested from the municipal waters off Anda, Bani, Bolinao and Sual as well as Alaminos City are safe for human consumption.

Local government units have been advised to require their market inspectors, quarantine officers and administrators to demand from traders auxiliary invoices issued from the point of origin of the shellfish and other fishery products.

Aside from the invoices, traders should show a transport permit to ensure that their produce did not come from areas found positive of the paralytic shellfish poison.