Shellfish warning
PEOPLE have been warned not to collect and eat any wild shellfish due to high levels of naturally occurring toxins.
The council’s environmental health manager Maggie Sandison said on Monday that eleven of the 20 commercial mussel harvesting areas have been closed due to Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP).
DSP is caused by a rapid plankton bloom generally triggered by warmer temperatures and quieter seas.
Eating DSP affected shellfish can result in severe cases of diarrhea and vomiting.
Sandison said: “We have seen this level of toxins coming up the west coast of Scotland, and it has finally hit us.
“It is a naturally forming toxin and it is not unusual to find it this time of the year.”
She added that weekly sampling would continue and said the public would be notified once it was safe to collect wild mussels again.
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