PORT TOWNSEND — The state Department of Health has closed Port Ludlow, including Mats Mats Bay, for recreational shellfish harvest.
Shellfish samples from Port Ludlow have been found to contain elevated levels of marine biotoxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP), said Mike Dawson with Jefferson County Environmental Health.
The closure is in addition to earlier closures.
In Jefferson County, all beaches on Admiralty Inlet including areas south to Kinney Point on Marrowstone Island, as well as from Fort Worden State Park west to the Clallam County line, are closed, as well as Kilisut Harbor, including Mystery Bay, and Discovery Bay.
In Clallam County, all beaches on the Strait are closed to shellfish harvesting.
Pacific Ocean beaches are closed for the season.
All species of shellfish are affected, including all clams, oysters, mussels and other invertebrates such as moon snails. Beaches also are closed to the sport harvest of scallops. Closures do not apply to shrimp. Crab meat does not contain biotoxins, but the guts must be discarded.
Symptoms of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) can appear within minutes or hours and usually begin with tingling lips and tongue, moving to the hands and feet, followed by difficulty breathing and potentially death.
For more information about the closures, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-ShellfishToxin.
