CONCORD, N.H. — New Hampshire has announced that the ban on harvest of shellfish due to a harmful algal bloom has been lifted along the Atlantic Coast.
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department said the harvest closure, due what often is called red tide, was put in place in June for all species of shellfish. High concentrations of a microscopic marine algae capable of producing a neurotoxin that causes Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning, or ASP, had been found.
“The extremely high concentrations of this marine algae observed in late May and June began to subside in early July, and have been declining ever since,” Chris Nash, the shellfish program manager for the state Department of Environmental Services, said. “Repeated testing of shellfish tissues along the coast, in Hampton/Seabrook Harbor, and near the commercial oyster farms in Little Bay have all shown results that are below the detection limit of the tests.”
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