OLYMPIA, Wash. - The Washington Department of Health has closed much of northern Puget Sound to recreational shellfish gathering after finding dangerous levels of the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.
The department said Thursday that tests found so-called "red tide" toxin levels up to 100 times the closure level. Eating shellfish contaminated with the toxin can make people sick, and at high enough levels, can kill.
The closure affects all of Whatcom and San Juan counties; Deception Pass, Fidalgo Bay, Samish Bay, Sinclair, and Cypress Islands in Skagit County; the northern part of Whidbey Island from Keystone Harbor to Strawberry Point; and Discovery Bay in Clallam and Jefferson counties.
The Health Department says that before harvesting shellfish anywhere in the state, people should check its marine biotoxin Web site at or call the agency biotoxin hotline at 1-800-562-5632.
