BFAR Clears Zumarraga Island of Red Tide; Four Eastern Visayas Bays Remain Under Shellfish Ban

• Zumarraga Island’s waters are now clear of toxic red tide, BFAR announced. However, four other bays in Eastern Visayas remain affected by the toxic red tide.

Jazmin Bonifacio 3 months ago 1.4 K

TACLOBAN CITY – The coastal waters of Zumarraga Island in Samar have been declared free from toxic red tide, but the harmful condition continues to affect four bays in Eastern Visayas, according to the latest Red Tide Advisory of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on Tuesday December 23, 2025.

BFAR Eastern Visayas said water samples collected from Zumarraga Island have consistently tested negative for red tide toxins for several weeks. As a result, the area has been removed from both the local and national shellfish bulletins.

However, four other bays in Eastern Visayas remain affected. One of these—Matarinao Bay in Eastern Samar—is included in the latest national shellfish bulletin, while three others are listed under the local shellfish bulletin.

Areas are placed under the national shellfish bulletin when both shellfish and seawater samples test positive for toxic organisms. Matarinao Bay covers the towns of General MacArthur, Quinapondan, Hernani, and Salcedo in Eastern Samar.

Meanwhile, seawater samples from three other bays tested positive for Pyrodinium bahamense, a dinoflagellate that produces red tide toxins. These areas are the coastal waters of Guiuan in Eastern Samar, Cancabato Bay in Tacloban City, and Irong-Irong Bay in Catbalogan City.

“To safeguard human lives, we are issuing this warning as precautionary advice to the public to refrain from gathering, selling, and eating all types of shellfish and Acetes sp., locally known as alamang or hipon, from these bays,” BFAR said in its local shellfish bulletin.

BFAR clarified that fish, squid, shrimp, and crabs remain safe to eat, provided they are fresh, thoroughly washed, and cleaned properly by removing internal organs such as gills and intestines before cooking.

They further warned that consuming contaminated shellfish may cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can be fatal.

Currently, three bays are listed in the national shellfish bulletin. Aside from Matarinao Bay in Eastern Visayas, these include Dumanquilas Bay in Zamboanga del Sur and the coastal waters of Tantanang Bay in Zamboanga Sibugay.

BFAR said the recurrence of red tide in the region is linked to the presence of red tide cysts in the bays. Frequent rains may also contribute, as runoff carries soil sediments rich in organic matter into coastal waters, creating conditions that allow red tide organisms to multiply.

(Photo by Jazmin Bonifacio, The Vanguard)