According to BioBioChile, the Secretaría Regional Ministerial (Seremi) de Salud de Los Lagos, the regional office of Chile's Health Ministry, has banned shellfish harvesting in part of Terao, in the comuna (municipality) of Chonchi, in Chiloé province. The measure responds to toxin levels that exceed the limits allowed under health regulations.
The authority made the ban official through Resolución Exenta CP N° 25206, dated Friday, October 23. The document declared the area affected by red tide due to the presence of paralytic shellfish poison (PSP, known in Spanish as VPM).
Red tide is the common name for blooms of microscopic algae that produce toxins. Shellfish that feed by filtering water, such as mussels, clams or ribbed mussels (cholgas), accumulate these toxins. PSP affects the nervous system of anyone who eats contaminated products, and cooking does not eliminate it.
According to the resolution, the detection came from tests under the Programa de Sanidad de Moluscos Bivalvos (PSMB), the bivalve mollusc sanitation program. Bivalve molluscs are those with two shells. The Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (Sernapesca), Chile's national fisheries and aquaculture service, reported the results, which showed concentrations outside the limits set in the Reglamento Sanitario de los Alimentos, Chile's food health regulations.
The source does not specify the measured concentrations, the exact extent of the affected area or how many harvesters or farming sites operate there. Nor does it say how long the ban will remain in force. BioBioChile said it is gathering more information.
For the public, the health authority's general recommendation during these alerts is not to harvest or eat shellfish from areas under a ban. Anyone who experiences tingling in the lips, tongue or limbs after eating shellfish should seek care at a health center immediately.
The ban in Terao will remain in place until the Seremi de Salud de Los Lagos issues a new resolution lifting it, based on the monitoring that Sernapesca continues to report.
