Shellfish Warning in Scotland

[baggins]

Morning all,
i just saw this post on Sea kayak Scotland and, with the Bank holiday coming and plenty of us heading out, i thought i'd share. Another Toxic Algae Bloom seems to be effecting the Scottish West coast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-44176171

 

[Toddy]

It makes you wonder though; this is a natural phenomenon (albeit perhaps now rather encouraged in some places by agricultural run-off and sewerage outflows though those sea lochs are hardly on the beaten tracks or next to suburbia) and must have been so in the past too. How did folks manage to eat shellfish safely then ?
I suppose the old sayings about only when there's an R in the month, were folks trying to make sense of it ?

M

 

[Janne]

Correct. R in a month = cold months = colder water.
Check the average water temperature month by month.

But, having said that, in the old days, dying from a shellfish poisoning was just another way to die.
Accidents, weak immune system due to chronic malnourishment ( leading to low resistance to infections), murders, all led to a low life expectancy.

Gods give, Gods take!

 

[baggins]

i did some work in the algae growing industry many years ago (for producing bio fuels and cosmetics). And some of the guys i worked with reckoned the increase in coastal fish farms and the introduction of manufactured feeds can increase the susceptibility of shallow waters to HABs (Harmful Agae Blooms). There were several guys doing research into it.

 

[Robson Valley]

First Nations Elders here on the Pacific Northwest coast of British Columbia say that Paralytic was another way to die. That was the test.
Our oysters are great big things, like 8-10cm body mass. Apparently, sucking the juice off a single bad one of those and you are terminal.
Your lips go numb and you say your farewells.

The last bloom was a monster from California in the south, to Alaska in the north. Everywhere. Gone now, they say.
Salmon pen farming influence? The verdict isn't in yet. Viruses & Sea Lice for certain.
But the First Nations are steadily driving the businesses out of their traditional territories. That's a good thing.
The FN do not turn around and set up their own pens. They continue to grow clams, oysters and mussels
as they have done for 10,000+ years.

 

[Bigfoot]

Be wary of Raugust

 

[Billy-o]

Related to Toddy's point, there's a worry that farmed salmon leftovers, which have viruses, are finding their way into the wild salmon population and elsewhere

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/...-c-ocean-infecting-salmon-scientist-1.4425193

 

[Robson Valley]

My po.st #5. Just out on the coast from where I live.
No worry, it's all fact which no longer needs any more proof.

There is a culinary concept here which is called "Ocean Wise."
It's a textbook & cookbook which examines the harvesting practices for many marine species, all over the planet.
Factual data, not Dr. Google's musings.