Clams and Red Tide
The term "red tide" refers to an accumulation of a toxin produced by marine algae. Filter-feeding shellfish – such as clams, oysters, and mussels – are affected. The toxin affects the human central nervous system. Eating contaminated shellfish, raw or cooked, can be fatal. Some other kinds of algal blooms make the seawater appear red, but red tide blooms do not always discolor the water, nor are they related to tides.
Clams bought from a market should always be safe, as commercial harvesters are extremely careful about red tides: they close beds that are even remotely threatened, and keep them closed for up to three or four weeks after they are clean of any red tide. Commercial clam fishers who are known to break these rules will receive a major fine in the first instance, and will most likely have their license to harvest or sell clams revoked; furthermore they are liable for any damages. Clam harvesters who violate the sanitary laws in New York face potential jail terms.
Read more about this topic: Hard Clam
Famous quotes containing the words red and/or tide:
“Only, here and there, an old sailor,
Drunk and asleep in his boots,
Catches tigers
In red weather.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“O passionately at peace when will that tide draw shoreward,”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)