LABUAN, Feb 19 — The Labuan Fisheries Department has reminded the people on this duty-free-island to avoid consuming shellfish from mainland Sabah with immediate effect.

Its director Faizal Ibrahim Suhaili said this follows the detection of the red tide phenomenon near Sepanggar waters.

A red tide is composed of harmful blooms or algae that could cause mass mortalities of marine life and lead to human intoxication or even death.

"We will strictly monitor the inflow of shellfish from Sabah at our ferry terminals, to prevent cases of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP).

"As the Sabah Department of Fisheries (DoF) has issued a warning of red tide, this applies in Labuan as well, as Labuan waters is linked to Sabah waters,” he told Bernama today.

Faizal Ibrahim said paralytic shellfish poisoning is a syndrome that people could develop if they eat seafood contaminated by red tide.

PSP can be life threatening and often shows itself within two hours of consumption and symptoms include tingling, a burning sensation, numbness, drowsiness and respiratory paralysis.

"Red tide blooms can last days, weeks, or months and can also change daily due to wind conditions and water currents... onshore winds normally bring it near the shore and offshore winds drive it out to sea.

"Do not eat molluscs (clams or oysters) taken from red tide waters, as they contain toxins that cause food poisoning,” Faizal Ibrahim said.

Sabah Department of Fisheries has warned the public against consuming shellfish from Kota Kinabalu and Tuaran waters after a red tide was detected near Sepanggar Island on Friday.

Its director Azhar Kassim said their Biosecurity Department found the pyrodinium bahamense and margalefidinium polykrikoides cells in one litre of samples to exceed dangerous levels.

He said the cells spread fast and have reached Sutera Harbour and the Jesselton Jetty waters, Likas Bay, and Gaya Islands with the highest readings being near the Sabah International Convention Centre.

Labuan in April 2015 had reported two cases (involving two local fishermen from Kg Sg Miri) of paralytic shellfish poisoning following the red tide phenomenon in the waters off the island.

Red tide is named after the reddish colour that toxic plankton produces and certain marine creatures that feed on the contaminated plankton had caused deaths in Sabah in the early 1980s. — Bernama