MANCHESTER — The state Division of Marine Fisheries has announced that it is now safe to eat clams harvested from Manchester's shores, even though officials at Town Hall say there hasn't been shellfishing in the town for years.
The state had closed all shellfishing from Manchester to the New Hampshire border on May 15 because of the spread of red tide.
According to a press release from Marine Fisheries, the levels of red tide in soft-shell clams, razor clams and blue mussels has reached safe levels for human consumption. The town, however, remains closed to harvesting any other type of shellfish or carnivorous snail with the exception of sea scallops.
Among the other cities and towns released from red tide are Boston, Danvers, Beverly, Salem, Marblehead, Swampscott, Lynn, Nahant, Revere, Saugus, Winthrop and Hull.
Marine Fisheries declared Essex, Ipswich and Gloucester free from the possibility of paralytic shellfish poisoning from red tide on June 29.
According to the Marine Fisheries Web site, this algae is composed of phytoplankton Alexandrium, a microorganism that produces a toxin that can cause serious health issues when consumed in large enough concentrations.
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