The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) imposed a shellfish ban in Bataan after samples taken from the coastal areas tested positive for Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSF) on Monday night.

BFAR, in its Local Shellfish Advisory No. 03 dated October 28, 2019, banned the eating, gathering, harvesting, marketing and transporting of shellfish, including alamang, from the towns of Hermosa, Orani, Samal, Abucay, Pilar, Orion, Limay and Mariveles and the City of Balanga.

Samples of shellfish meat taken from these areas along Manila Bay showed the presence of PSF.

Clarissa Boyo, a tahong and talaba vendor in Samal, said news of the presence of red tide in Bataan was received at 7:30 p.m. Monday through a text from BFAR in San Fernando, Pampanga.

“Sana huwag nang umabot ng Pasko ang red tide dahil hindi pa kami nakakapag-ipon. Wala pa kaming ipon dahil hindi namin expect na magkakaroon ng red tide ngayon. Sana huwag nang patagalin para magkaroon kami ng magandang Pasko at Bagong Taon (I hope the red tide doesn’t last until Christmas because we haven’t saved up yet for the holidays. We didn’t expect that a red tide would happen),” she said.

Boyo, who has two children in high school and a baby that needs milk and diapers, said selling mussels and oysters is their only source of income.

“Ito lang ang pinagkukunan namin ng income (This is our source of income),” she said. (PNA)