CONFIRMATION. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Western Visayas chief Remia Aparri said they are waiting for confirmation on the possible presence of red tide in selected coastal waters of Iloilo and Capiz. She said on Tuesday (Sept. 27, 2022) a local advisory has been released to safeguard human lives and mitigate the impact of the red tide in the region. (PNA file photo)
ILOILO CITY – A local red tide advisory is up in selected coastal waters in Carles, Iloilo, and Capiz towns, warning the public against gathering, selling, and eating all types of shellfish and “alamang” (krill) pending the confirmation of the toxin.
“We still need the confirmatory result. We submitted samples to our central office that releases the shellfish bulletin,” Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Western Visayas head Remia Aparri said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
On Sept. 23, BFAR released the warning for coastal waters in barangays Gabi and Asluman in Gigantes Island in Carles, Iloilo while the provincial government of Capiz came out with its local red tide warning for coastal waters of President Roxas, Pilar, Ivisan, and Roxas City.
Samples taken from two Carles villages were positive for the paralytic shellfish poison (PSP).
The result of the sampling by the provincial government through the Capiz Agri- Aqua Laboratory of the Provincial Agriculturist Office on Sept. 20-22 showed the presence of the Pyrodinium Bahamense, an organism that causes PSP.
Aparri said they have been conducting regular tests in areas with reported cases of PSP to safeguard the consumers.
Aside from the two barangays of Carles, BFAR also monitors the waters of the municipality of Batan in Aklan.
“Twice a month we conduct monitoring in those areas,” Aparri added. (PNA)
