Mussels at local beaches are off limits

Alex Coolman

NEWPORT BEACH -- They hang in glossy black clusters from the piers and

jetties, looking very much like something that might be good to eat for

dinner.

But California mussels aren’t such a good quarry for sport harvesters at

this time of year, say Orange County officials, because of one small

problem.

They can kill you.

Monday marked the beginning of a statewide quarantine on sport harvesting

of mussels for human consumption, a restriction that will last through

Oct. 31.

The quarantine is an annual rite because of the concern that the mussels

may have filtered high levels of toxic material from the water.

Mussels take in large quantities of dinoflagellate plankton, said Orange

Coast College marine biology professor Dennis Kelly.

“Some species [of dinoflagellates] can be poisonous,” The accumulation of

these toxins from this plankton can be threatening to humans “if they

filter enough of those out of the water and it’s a poisonous species.”

The toxins, when ingested by humans, can have very serious effects --

leading to a condition called paralytic shellfish poisoning, which causes

numbness, respiratory paralysis and, in some cases, death.

Cooking mussels will not necessarily destroy the toxins.

Summer is a particularly dangerous time for mussel consumption, Kelly

noted, because the longer days and brighter light make better growing

conditions for the potentially toxic plankton. The “red tide” conditions

that sometimes stain local waters a crimson color are caused by the

explosive growth of these organisms.

This is also the time of year, he said, when nutrient-rich upwelling

tends to occur in coastal waters, which can stimulate dinoflagellate

production.

Monica Mazur of the Orange County Health Care Agency said the county will

post warnings on local piers and jetties and in bait and tackle shops

informing fishermen about the dangers of the shellfish.

An informal survey of shops and sites along the coast Monday failed to

turn up any warning notices.

It did, however, turn up one potentially useful fact: edible mussels, the

kind that aren’t full of paralyzing toxins, are only $3.99 per pound at

Santa Monica Seafood in Costa Mesa.