The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Algae behind shellfish warning and ban in Bay of Islands

By Lindy Laird
Northern Advocate·
16 May, 2018 08:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

DANGEROUS: If there's a warning sign nearby, people should not collect shellfish from an area.
DANGEROUS: If there's a warning sign nearby, people should not collect shellfish from an area.

DANGEROUS: If there's a warning sign nearby, people should not collect shellfish from an area.

A chain of conditions has led to warnings for people not to collect shellfish anywhere inside the Bay of Islands due to a potentially deadly toxin.

Higher than usual levels of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) in shellfish has seen the Ministry for Primary Industries issue a health warning for the area from the outer heads between Cape Wiwiki on the north to Cape Brett on the south. The warning includes all inlets and estuaries. Similar warnings are in place in Hawke's Bay and parts of Marlborough Sounds.

But the ban is not expected to affect the Bay's multi-million dollar oyster industry.

The latest weekly sample testing has shown PST at levels above the safe limit of 0.8 mg/kg set by MPI. The toxins develop in filter feeding shellfish that have fed on blooms of microscopic dinoflagellate algae. The chain reaction can lead to paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in people.

The shellfish look and taste normal, despite their poisonous cargo. Mussels, oysters, tuatua, pipi, toheroa, cockles, scallops, cat's eyes, kina (sea urchin) and all other bivalve shellfish should not be eaten. Pāua, crab and crayfish can be eaten if the gut has been completely removed before cooking.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Bay of Islands oyster farming spokesman Ben Warren said that industry was unlikely to be affected by current elevated toxicity levels.

''It's pretty routine. We monitor for this all the time. Part of what we do as an industry is contribute to the national testing programme.''

Shellfish farmers tested regularly for a range of conditions and stopped harvesting long before toxin levels or other factors affected the crop, Warren said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''You can detect it in such minute amounts.''

As for public health warnings about collecting shellfish: ''My message is, if there's a warning posted, don't eat the shellfish.''

Anyone who becomes ill after eating shellfish from where a warning is in place should seek medical attention immediately.

In Northland in 2003, a woman who ate shellfish from a Far North banned area was admitted to hospital with PSP, and recovered. In 2012, more than 20 people were poisoned in the Bay of Plenty shoreline, with 10 of them admitted to hospital.

Discover more

Thefts hurting Northland oyster farmers

12 Sep 05:00 PM

PSP is responsible for many deaths overseas each year, with the American continent's coast being high risk.

Bans on taking shellfish from around New Zealand's coast occur fairly regularly. The last ban over the entire Bay of Islands was in February 2017. Last November the North Island's west coast from south Taranaki to the Far North was out of bounds for several weeks. The danger usually passes as the algal bloom disperses and shellfish excrete the toxins.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

On The Up: Hawke's Bay winery turns noble rot into sweet wine success

16 May 06:00 PM
The Country

NZ’s timber industry braces for tough times ahead

16 May 05:00 PM
The Country

'Radical change': Possible crayfish ban for Northland's east coast

16 May 05:00 PM

The Hire A Hubby hero turning handyman stereotypes on their head

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Recommended for you
Auckland FC beat Melbourne Victory in first leg of semifinal
Auckland FC

Auckland FC beat Melbourne Victory in first leg of semifinal

17 May 11:43 AM
$15 million remains up for grabs, two players $500,000 richer
New Zealand

$15 million remains up for grabs, two players $500,000 richer

17 May 09:35 AM
'Had to weather the storm': Moana Pasifika top Blues
Super Rugby

'Had to weather the storm': Moana Pasifika top Blues

17 May 09:34 AM
'Armed police, open the door': Cinema cleared as officers sweep mall; man arrested, one on run
New Zealand

'Armed police, open the door': Cinema cleared as officers sweep mall; man arrested, one on run

17 May 09:21 AM
TV show where immigrants compete for US citizenship considered by Homeland Security
World

TV show where immigrants compete for US citizenship considered by Homeland Security

17 May 07:22 AM

Latest from The Country

On The Up: Hawke's Bay winery turns noble rot into sweet wine success

On The Up: Hawke's Bay winery turns noble rot into sweet wine success

16 May 06:00 PM

Askerne Wines has used Botrytis on semillon grapes since 1999.

NZ’s timber industry braces for tough times ahead

NZ’s timber industry braces for tough times ahead

16 May 05:00 PM
'Radical change': Possible crayfish ban for Northland's east coast

'Radical change': Possible crayfish ban for Northland's east coast

16 May 05:00 PM
Premium
'Frightened all the time': Inside a $3m kiwifruit tax evasion scam

'Frightened all the time': Inside a $3m kiwifruit tax evasion scam

16 May 05:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search