All restrictions on shellfish fishing and marketing throughout the Arcachon Basin have been lifted. This is a decision of the Gironde prefecture.
This is good news for vacationers in love with the South West! The results of the latest analyzes carried out by the monitoring network ofIFREMER (1) revealed that the level of contamination of the mussels from Banc d’Arguin (Gironde) was below the arlerte threshold.
In a press release, the prefect of Gironde thus indicates that it decided, this Thursday July 23, 2015, “after consultation with the representatives of the professional organizations of fishing and oyster culture”, to lift the prohibition measures applied to fishing activities and marketing of mussels, cockles and scallops from the Banc d’Arguin.
A risk of gastric disorders
As a result, we can now say that “all restrictions on fishing and marketing of shellfish in the Arcachon Basin” have been lifted.
As a reminder, in recent years, oysters and shellfish in the Basin have regularly experienced periods of prohibition of consumption, sometimes of a few days, sometimes of several weeks, due to the presence of lipophilic toxins (or DSP) linked to a microalgae of the genus Dinophysis. This natural phenomenon, partly seasonal, is associated in particular with rapid warming of the water.
These toxins are capable of causing gastric disorders.
(1) French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
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