Capiz still free from red tide
ROXAS CITY – Aquaculturist Audie Belargo of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist in Capiz said the coastal waters in the province remain free from the red tide organism.
The Capiz waters continue to be free from red tide organism based on their latest monitoring last week.
Being red tide-free is vital for Capiz because it is considered the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines.”
With the negative results of the waters against the toxic red tide organism, all types of shellfish and acetes species or alamang gathered in the coastal waters here are safe to eat, Belargo said.
He added they are also intensifying their red tide monitoring activities to immediately detect the presence of the toxic red tide organism.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has issued Shellfish Bulletin No. 26, dated Nov. 3, 2010 which also declares the coastal waters of Ivisan, Sapian, Roxas City, Panay, Pontevedra, President Roxas and Pilar with some other coastal waters in the country to be safe from toxic red tides.
In the same Bulletin, BFAR, however, declared the shellfish collected at Dumanquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur, Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar, Murcielagos Bay in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental, Sorsogon Bay in Sorsogon, and in Carigara Bay in Leyte to be still positive of paralytic shellfish poison that is beyond the regulatory limit.
BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento Jr. also declared the Bislig Bay in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur to be positive for red tide toxin based on their latest monitoring.*PIA
