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NOAA Fisheries Service Red Tide Advisories

Highlights
 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requested a revision of the emergency regulations of October 18, 2005, which implemented a temporary paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) closure (i.e., the Northern and Southern Temporary PSP Closure Areas) due to the presence of high levels of the toxin that causes PSP.This action will expand the Northern Temporary PSP Closure Area south to include the Federal waters southeast of Massachusetts around Nantucket Island, and eastward to the George's Bank PSP Closure Area. The boundary of the Southern Temporary PSP Closure area is also revised and contracted. The revised and expanded Northern Temporary PSP Closure Area prohibits the harvest of all bivalve molluscan shellfish, with the exception of sea scallop adductor muscles harvested and shucked at sea. The prohibition on harvest of whole or roe-on scallops also remains in effect for both areas.

Past Red Tide Closure Notices

NOAA image of warning sign posted in areas where shellfish have been contaminated by a red tide
  • Click Here for FAQs on Red Tide/Commercial Fishery Failure
  • Click Here for Information About Pilot-PSP Dockside Monitoring Study
  • NOAA Fisheries Service Takes Emergency Action to Address Red Tide - On June 14, 2005, NOAA Fisheries Service issued an emergency action to close a portion of Federal waters off the coasts of New Hampshire and Massachusetts to the harvest of all species of shellfish (bivalves), with the exception of scallop meats, due to the spread of toxic algal blooms (red tide). This is the largest bloom on record in New England history warranting a public health emergency (Click here for more information).

Relevant Websites:

     

Last Updated: July 8, 2008

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