25th February 2010

WEYMOUTH: Ban on collecting shellfish

A BAN on harvesting oysters, mussels, clams and scallops from the Fleet near Weymouth is still in force today.

The ban, which is now in its eighth day, was imposed by Weymouth Port Health Authority after naturally occurring toxins were found during a sampling of oysters.

Such toxins can make people ill if eaten with symptoms including diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain and chills.

The authority advised anyone who had gathered and eaten such bivalve molluscs in the week before the ban and who suffered such symptoms within a few hours of eating them to consult their doctor.

Chief Port Health Officer Nigel Emery said today (Wednesday): “We will take samples weekly and the ban will remain in place until we get two consecutive negative results.

“This means that the earliest the ban can be lifted will be Friday, February 26th and this assumes that we get two consecutive negative results.

“If we get a positive result then the whole process has to start again.”

Warnings of the ban have been posted at strategic locations along the Fleet.