SPAIN
Friday, August 08, 2014, 23:40 (GMT + 9)
Xunta de Galicia decided to prohibit the capture of mussels in 18 of the 55 floating nurseries of the autonomous region, that is to say, in 32 per cent of the total, due to the presence of lipophilic biotoxin.
The red tide had diminished last July, but it came forward again in recent days.
During last week, 12 of the 18 mussel polygons affected with the biotoxin were closed, reported the newspaper La Voz de Galicia.
On Thursday, the Galician authorities banned the sale of bivalves that are farmed in four aquaculture parks: three in O Grove (C1, C2 and C4) and one in Cangas (Cangas C); and last Tuesday six centres located in Cangas (Cangas F, Cangas G, Cangas H) and in Bueu closed.
At this time, the red tide is in the estuaries of Sada, O Grove, Baiona, Corme-Laxe, Pontevedra and Vigo.
The lipophilic toxin is safe for seafood, but in humans it can cause digestive issues and diarrhea.
According to the Secretariat of the Sea of Galicia, it would be premature to decide how much the red tide progress will reach and whether or not it will be worse than the one that hit the sector in 2013.
At present, the local government decided to distribute EUR 1.5 million among the mussel producers, and provided that the beneficiaries will receive 60 per cent of the money they lost.