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Red Tide Forces Shellfishing Ban On N.H. Coast

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May 8, 2008 12:59 pm US/Eastern

Red Tide Forces Shellfishing Ban On N.H. Coast

CONCORD, N.H. (WBZ) ― Red Tide is sweeping through New Hampshire's coastal waters again.

State officials have banned taking mussels, clams and oysters from New Hampshire's coastal waters and Hampton-Seabrook Harbor.

The ban is in response to high levels of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning, known as Red Tide, found in blue mussels collected from the Isles of Shoals and the harbor.

State shellfish manager Chris Nash says it's too soon to know how long the ban will last.

"It's a seasonal event," Nash told WBZ's Karen Anderson.

"The algae that causes it is dormant in the winter and comes out in the spring. In some years it's particularly intense. Whether this year it's going to be they don't know yet."

People who eat contaminated shellfish can get sick or die.

"If you eat a toxic shellfish the algae produces a potent neurotoxin," Nash told WBZ.

"In the most severe and rare cases your diaphragm goes limp and you can't breath and you suffocate. You die of respiratory paralysis. If you can get to a hospital quickly enough they can put you on a breathing apparatus."
 
Nash said what happens in New Hampshire could head to Massachusetts, so authorities there are also watching the situation closely.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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