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Red tide halts shellfish harvesting — shellfish festival unaffected

Beaches from just south of Union Bay to just south of Parksville are closed until further notice to the harvest of bivalve shellfish.

Beaches from just south of Union Bay to just south of Parksville are closed until further notice to the harvest of bivalve shellfish such as clams and oysters due to paralytic shellfish poisoning (red tide).

Area 14-8 is affected, Bryce Gillard, a Comox-based field supervisor for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, said Thursday.

This closure won't affect this weekend's B.C. Shellfish Festival in Comox, as all commercial product has come through a federally registered plant and there also remains many open areas of the coast where the commercial harvesters and recreational harvesters can obtain safe shellfish, Gillard added.

To find out what areas are open, he encourages the public to always call their local DFO office. The number in Comox is 250-339-2031. As well, the closures are posted on the DFO website on the Internet.