Beaches closed to recreational shellfishing

The Washington State Department of Health closed beaches around Birch Bay for recreational shellfish harvest on May 14 due to unsafe levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) biotoxin. 

That’s an expansion of a previous closure – on May 6, the department of health closed beaches around Drayton Harbor to recreational shellfishing for the same reason. Currently, all beaches from Point Whitehorn north to the Canadian Border, including Point Roberts, are closed for recreational shellfish harvest. 

Shellfish sold in restaurants and retail markets have been tested before distribution and are safe to eat.

The naturally occurring biotoxin is found in clams, mussels, oysters and other  molluscan shellfish. PSP biotoxin can cause severe illness and death. Symptoms include numbness and tingling of lips and tongue, which may begin within minutes of eating toxic shellfish or may take an hour or two to develop. Symptoms may progress to tingling fingers and toes and then loss of control of arms and legs, followed by difficulty in breathing. Some people feel nauseous or experience a sense of floating.

Algae that contain marine biotoxins cannot be seen and must be detected by laboratory testing. During a biotoxin event, mussels and varnish clams usually contain the highest toxin concentration. Cooking or freezing does not destroy PSP and other naturally occurring biotoxins. Crabmeat is not affected, but “crab butter” and crab entrails can harbor biotoxins and should always be discarded, according to the health department.

Current biotoxin closures are updated at doh.wa.gov/ehp/sf/biotoxin.htm