Red tide alert up in Masbate town

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has warned the public not to eat shellfish taken from the waters of Milagros, Masbate after a five-year-old child died and eight others were hospitalized due to red tide poisoning.

Ronald Canabe, BFAR-Bicol information officer, said a team headed by regional director Dennis del Socorro went to Milagros town last June 18 to get water and shellfish meat samples for analysis after receiving a report of the shellfish poisoning there.

Canabe said laboratory tests made at the BFAR main office found the samples to be positive for paralytic shellfish toxin.

The BFAR said shellfish also taken from Murcielagos Bay in Zamboanga del Norte and Misamis Occidental, Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar, Dumaquillas Bay in Zamboanga del Norte, and Balete Bay in Davao Oriental are unsafe to eat.