Mussel harvest ban in the Marlborough Sounds

Harvesting of greenshell mussels in part of the Marlborough Sounds has stopped, and about 150 tonnes of the shellfish are being held after tests found marine biotoxins.

Routine industry testing of mussel harvests on Friday in the Port Underwood area detected higher than allowable levels of the biotoxins which cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning.

The find, at Whangakoko Bay at the base of a peninsula known as the "Tongue" , closed all commercial and recreational shellfish harvesting in the Port Underwood area, including harvesting of greenshell mussels at 35 marine farms.

Senior health protection officer Al Campbell said the levels found in the seawater and shellfish tested were only just above the allowable limit, but a total ban was issued for the area as a "conservative precaution".

The affected area was just a small portion of the Marlborough Sounds, said Marlborough Shellfish Quality Programme manager Helen Smale.

A hold was put on about 150 tonnes of mussels already harvested from the area until they were tested.

"It just proves that our programme's working and that our systems are working and that everything is under control," she said.

"Our next steps revolve around what the test results are but the possibility is of redefining the area into a smaller concise area which will release some [mussels] and we'll do further testing on that area."

The public had been advised not to collect or eat shellfish from the Port Underwood area.

The Nelson-Marlborough mussel industry is worth more than $100 million a year and employs more than 1000 people.

- NZPA