The Washington State Department of Health has reopened recreational harvest of molluscan shellfish in northern Whatcom County, after a several-month closure.
Beaches from Sandy Point north to the border, including west Lummi Island and Point Roberts, are open to harvest, but the harvest of butter and varnish clams remains prohibited on those beaches.
Health officials determined that paralytic shellfish poisoning biotoxin levels have dropped in shellfish in that area, but biotoxins can linger in butter clams and varnish clams “long after other specific are safe to eat,” according to a Whatcom County Health and Community Services news release.
[ Read more: What are marine biotoxins — and what do they have to do with beach closures? ]
Harvest of all molluscan shellfish remains closed in the area from southeast Lummi Island and Bellingham Bay to the Skagit County Line, as of 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 7, Communications Specialist Ron Warner said in an email. That includes Portage Bay, Chuckanut Bay and Larrabee State Park.
Molluscan shellfish include clams, mussels, oysters and scallops. Paralytic shellfish poisoning biotoxins can cause severe illness and death. Community members can find current biotoxin and pollution closures at the online Washington Shellfish Safety Map.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
