E D I T O R I A L

NEXT TIME, WILL THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) please just keep its traps shut about coastal waters in Pangasinan being free from the aquatic phenomenon called “red tide” during a certain period?

We believe it would be more sensible if the agency just quickly issues bulletins when red tide sets in and not when it is absent in the waters. Why? Issuing public announcements about safety of marine products from toxins brought by RT tends to lull shellfish eaters into a sense of complacency. They would be buying the viand (generally considered a budget food fare) in abandon, forgetting their better senses that such a state of safety of shellfish products could change drastically overnight. Before they learn of a revised public alert, it could be too late

Take last week’s monitoring of the Bani-Bolinao coastal area by the same BFAR. The Philippine News Agency came out with an item on April 17 about a BFAR bulletin saying that the “coastal waters of Pangasinan remain free from red tide toxin (PSP toxins) based on latest analyses x x x”

Barely four days later, BFAR was alerting the public that the same coastal waters “are now positive for the deadly red tide toxin” under its Shellfish Bulletin No.07 dated –quite strangely enough – April 13, 2006. The bulletins have apparently overlapped or the PNA story on the all-clear signal earlier was issued quite belatedly to the news outlets at about the time red tide was already blooming in the waters of Bolinao and Bani.

See why we are suggesting that only alert bulletins on red tide (when it is monitored to be actually present already) be issued by authorities and not when the waters are clear of it?

By the way, other than shellfish, those tiny shrimps, “alamang,” from red tide affected areas are also declared unsafe for human consumption, according to the BFAR Bulletin issued by Director Malcolm Sarmiento. Fish, squid, shrimps and crabs are safe for eating provided that these are fresh, washed thoroughly and their internal organs such as gills and intestines removed before cooking.