Red tide warning up in Catbalogan
TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Eastern Visayas is advising local government units in Samar to ban the gathering, selling and eating of shellfishes from Irong-Irong Bay in Catbalogan City, pending the issuance of an official bulletin from the agency’s central office.
The alert, as reported by PNA, came as a precautionary measure following the result of Friday’s reading that the red tide microorganism in the area has exceeded the safe level of 10 cells per liter of water. BFAR’s monitoring gathered 867 to 2,074 cells per liter of water.
BFAR-8 regional director Juan Albaladejo further stated that “signs that a red tide bloom is imminent†at Cambatutay Bay that borders Tarangnan town and Catbalogan. The reading showed 24 cells per liter. “Shellfish meat is now being processed in Manila for presence of saxitoxin in the meat,†he said.
Albaladejo has already alerted the agency’s technical staff and their LGU counterparts to intensify the monitoring to already include Calbayog waters and Maqueda Bay.
“If it is only Irong-Irong Bay the spread can be contained but Cambatutay is showing an expected blooming. It increases the chance of spread to Calbayog waters as current from the Cambatutay Bay drains to Samar Sea at the vicinity of Calbayog waters,†he explained.
Cambatutay Bay had its first occurrence of red tide in March last year taking two months for it to be eventually declared free, Albaladejo said.
Similar ban was also recommended for shellfish taken from the Maqueda Bay, which is very close to Cambatutay Bay, he added. (FREEMAN)
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