STA. BARBARA – The ban on shellfish from Anda and Bolinao remains even after the second tests by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) have shown that the water samples in the two towns already proved negative of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).

Department of Agriculture regional director Nestor Domenden confirmed the result of the second test conducted by his men in these affected areas.

However, he said he would not yet lift the ban issued by his office against gathering and eating tahong (mussels) and talaba (oyster) and  other shellfishes from these affected areas until a  third test is completed as a matter of standard operating procedure.

The test is conducted every week and the last determining factor for the eventual “clearance” of the two towns was to be made this week and its result will be released soon.

For the ban to be lifted, all three consecutive tests within three weeks prove that the area is negative of the algae bloom.

Domenden said the rest of Pangasinan is red tide-free.

The ban on shellfish gathering and eating was issued mid-April.

Some 70 sacks of shellfish from the towns were seized in Dagupan City by authorities when some unscrupulous businessmen tried to pass them off as originating from other coastal towns.

A BFAR brochure on red tide listed the symptoms of PSP in humans  include numbness of face and around the mouth, vomiting, nausea, headache,  tin gling sensations in hands and feet, fast pulse rate, dif ficulty in speaking  and difficulty in swallowing, 30 minutes after ingesting the poison. — EVA

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