Toxins risk to cray season

HARMFUL algal blooms could again risk the opening of the eastern region rock lobster seasons next month, with sampling on the East Coast finding toxins were more than 70 times the healthy limit.

A Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment email obtained by the Mercury states the regulatory limit for paralytic shellfish toxins caused by algal blooms is 0.8mg per kilogram of flesh.

The October 9 email identified toxin results for initial wild mussel samples at Spring Bay had a level of 62mg/kg.

Bicheno recorded 11, Binalong Bay 2.9 and Great Oyster Bay 2.

High levels of toxins, which can cause nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting, were recently detected in shellfish from George Rocks, Great Swanport, Little Swanport, Blackman Bay and Nubeena/Wedge Bay due to warmer water temperatures.

The 2015-16 eastern region crayfish seasons, for commercial and recreational fishers, were almost delayed because of toxin levels.

This year’s eastern recreational season opens on November 18 and the commercial fishery opens on November 27. As of DPIPWE’s last update in August, no East Coast rock lobster biotoxin zones have been closed.

Tasmanian Association for Recreational Fishing chief Mark Nikolai said as part of management strategies, the mussel sample collection was part of the first detection point for the toxins.

Mr Nikolai said if those levels were high, further sampling of rock lobster flesh would determine season openings.

“It’s the levels in the rock lobster that determine the management of the fishery dates. But it [PSTs in molluscs] does not always lead to impacts in rock lobster,” he said.

Mr Nikolai was expecting word from DPIPWE in the next week regarding further sampling. “We’ve got another month until the season, so a lot can happen until then.”

A DPIPWE spokesman said officers were monitoring toxin concentrations.

“If monitoring detects levels in excess of identified levels for rock lobster then appropriate management actions will be put in place ... [and] communicated to the commercial and recreational sectors prior to, or during, the scheduled seasons as required,” he said.

Shellfish in restaurants are safe to eat.