DUMAGUETE CITY, Aug. 14 – The Red Tide alert against shellfish consumption is still up in Tambobo Bay in Siaton, Negros Oriental pending results of laboratory tests of water and shellfish meat samples.
Wilmencita Pialogo, who heads the Provincial Task Force on Red Tide at the Provincial Agriculturist’s Office (PAO), disclosed Monday that they took some water samples again today but were not able to do an analysis.
Pialogo, a marine biologist, further disclosed that shellfish meat samples taken from Tambobo Bay last week for bio-assay testing in the central office of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) in Manila was forwarded only today.
According to Pialogo, due to the absence of the test results, the collection of shells from Tambobo Bay is still suspended.
The BFAR declared a Red Tide alert more than a week ago in Tambobo Bay after higher concentrations of the organism that causes algal bloom were noted.
The specific species of the dino flagellate that was monitored in Tambobo Bay was identified as pyrodinium bahamense, said Pialogo.
It is something “new” in the area, having not seen this kind previously, she added.
Pialogo had reported last week that another round of water sampling already showed a decline in the Red Tide toxicity, however, it is only the BFAR who can declare the area safe once more for shellfish gathering once the bio-assay results are out.
The Red Tide, also known as algal bloom, is believed to have been caused by agricultural run-offs with high concentrations of nitrates and phosphates that had triggered the event, she said. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
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