Tingling, numbness and paralysis were experienced by five people on the Sunshine Coast this week. The five consumed shellfish from Porpoise Bay, which was closed due to red tide and is also a designated sewage outfall area."I think a lot of times people think we're just full of beans and are closing areas for the heck of it, but the real reason is public safety," said Robert Kaatz, Fishery Officer for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) on the Coast.He said the entire lower Sunshine Coast has been closed for the harvesting of bi-valves (two-shelled shellfish) like clams and mussels since Friday, May 21.
The closure came after high levels of red tide poisoning, officially called paralytic shellfish poisoning, were found in shoreline mussels.
"We test the mussels every week because they seem to accumulate the organism more quickly," Kaatz said.Red tide is an organism that is always present in the ocean, but under certain circumstances (like bright sunlight), it grows more abundantly. When the organism is ingested in large amounts by clams, oysters and mussels, the shellfish become poisonous to humans.
Once the organisms die off and are present in smaller numbers, the shellfish then clean themselves, typically in one to three weeks time, according to Kaatz.
However, red tide can stay in an area for months."Once we had an area we had to close for half a year," said Kaatz.
He said some types of clams are closed for harvesting year-round, like butter clams, for example. Butter clams can hold red tide poisoning for up to three years.
Kaatz says red tide is an issue only in bi-valves, so it doesn't affect crabs and lobster, for example.
Kaatz said he was surprised that the five people infected on the Coast would even be harvesting in a sewage outfall area."That blew my mind. I guess a lot of people don't know about sewage outfall areas, so these people not only ate red tide, they probably also got some fecal coliform," Kaatz said.
Symptoms of red tide poisoning range from tingling in the extremities and tongue to the worst case -complete paralysis."It's a toxin that attacks the central nervous system," Kaatz said.
Of the five people locally who were infected, four were treated and released from St. Mary's Hospital, while one was flown to St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, according to Kaatz.
"I talked to the patient's doctor on Monday and they listed the patient in serious/unstable condition, on a respirator. I talked to the doctor again today [May 25] and they said the patient is doing much better," said Kaatz.
He notes this is the first time he had to deal with red tide poisoning cases on the Coast and says it's very important people pay attention to notices from the DFO closing areas.
"I hope to God there are no more cases reported," he said.
For more information on red tide, where the closures are and what can be harvested from the ocean during red tide, go to the DFO website at www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca or call 1-604-666-2828.
