Is it okay to eat seafood during a red tide?
Commercial seafood from local restaurants and seafood markets must be harvested from waters where there is no red tide, so the food is safe to eat. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, it is usually okay to eat fish, crabs, and shrimp during a red tide bloom because the toxin is not absorbed into the fleshy tissues of these animals. This advice is based on the assumption that only the “edible” portions are being consumed (the fillet or muscle). Oysters and other shellfish, such as clams, mussels, whelks, and scallops, can accumulate red tide toxins in their tissues. People that eat oysters or other shellfish containing red tide toxins (brevetoxins) may become seriously ill with neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP). Once a red tide appears to be over, toxins can remain in the oysters for weeks or months. Toxins are heat resistant, so cooking infected shellfish will not remove or deactivate the toxins. State authorities monitor the levels of Karenia brevis and, whe
