To advertise on this site. From staff reports Clam flats on Maine's southern coast reopened Friday afternoon for the harvest of some shellfish, including softshell clams. The opening is good news for commercial clam diggers, who were hit hard by a shellfish harvesting ban that went into effect right at the start of Maine's tourist season. Coastal areas in the southern part of the state have been closed to harvesting since May 31 because of a toxic red tide that made shellfish unsafe to eat. Closures are still in effect for mussels, surf or hen clams, and carnivorous snails from the Maine-New Hampshire border to Marshall Point at Port Clyde.
Red tide is the common name for the explosive growth of certain kind of algae in marine waters.
The algae produce a neurotoxin that can accumulate in filter-feeding shellfish such as clams and mussels. The toxin can cause symptoms in humans from numbness and tingling to dizziness, nausea, fever and muscle paralysis. The most serious cases can result in respiratory arrest and death. The Maine Department of Marine Resources regularly tests for the toxin in shellfish, and when levels get too high they close shellfish areas to harvesters. The opening of shellfish beds Friday comes just in time for both consumers and the more than 200 licensed commercial clam diggers in Cumberland County.