Oyster harvesting returns to Spain’s Santoña after red tide outbreak

OYSTER farming has returned to the area of Santoña today (Monday, May 10) after the Spanish Government halted a temporary ban.

The Regional Ministry of Fisheries, Food and Environment has now suspended the ban on the harvesting and marketing of bivalve molluscs in the Santoña production areas, but only for the oysters.

The ban was lifted after water analysis confirmed that the levels of amnesic biotoxins in the molluscs had returned to normal.

This negative impact of oyster harvesting,  caused by the phenomenon known as ‘red tide’, led to the extraction suspension a month ago.

The dreaded red tide algal blooms usually appears on the coasts of Cantabria during the spring months.

Once it has receded, shellfish products are safe again and the Regional Ministry will continue it surveillance work in the area to ensure any other further outbreaks will be detected quickly.

While the ban on farming oysters has been lifted it remains in force for the other bivalve molluscs including clams and mussels.

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