SEREMBAN (April 15): The results of the analysis on the second sample of mussels and water taken from Port Dickson waters by the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre laboratory still detected biotoxins above the safe intake limit.

Negeri Sembilan Department of Fisheries (DOF) director Kasim Tawe said, however, that it was lower than the first sample but still not safe for human consumption, at a rate of 800 parts per billion (ppb).

“We need three tests to identify whether to continue or cancel the ban on taking and selling mussels from the location. The third sample was taken today and the results are expected this Friday (April 19).

“So for now, mussels in the area are still not safe to eat and the ban on selling them by retailers or fishermen is still in place,” he told Bernama here on Monday.

He said the presence of biotoxins in the waters, which also occurs naturally, is likely to be accelerated by weather changes or the nutrient content of the seawater in the waters involved.

On April 4, DOF deputy director-general (management) Wan Aznan Abdullah was reported to have said that laboratory analysis at the Kuala Lumpur Fisheries Biosecurity Centre found that there was harmful algae that caused mussels in Port Dickson’s waters to be contaminated and unsafe to eat.

He said water samples and mussels in the waters were contaminated with biotoxins, as well as dangerous algae species, namely Prorocentrum, Alexandrium and Pseudonitzschia.