Public health warning: Shellfish biotoxin alert issued for Northland west coast and reduced for Hawke’s Bay region in New Zealand

New Zealand Food Safety is advising the public not to collect or consume shellfish gathered from the Northland west coast due to a high paralytic shellfish toxin risk. "Routine tests on seawater from Hokianga Harbour have shown very high levels of toxin-producing phytoplankton," says New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle. "This is very likely to cause shellfish to contain paralytic shellfish toxins over the safe limit. "We are sending shellfish for testing and while we await confirmatory results a warning is in place from Tauroa Point (Reef Point) to Glinks Gully, including the Herekino, Whangape, and Hokianga harbours. "Please do not gather and eat shellfish from this area because anyone doing so could get sick. "Affected shellfish include bivalve shellfish such as mussels, oysters, tuatua, pipi, toheroa, cockles and scallops, as well as pūpū (cat's eyes), Cook's turban, and kina (sea urchin). "It's also important to note that cooking the shellfish does ...