Shellfish Processors Brace for Red Tide Down East Closures Extensive for Clams, Mussels

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ELLSWORTH - The 2005 season is generally considered among the worst for red tide closures, but officials with the Maine Department of Marine Resources fear this season could be even worse.

"This is the largest closure for clams that we have ever had to put in place in eastern Maine, including many areas that have never been closed for red tide before," Darcie Couture, director of biotoxin monitoring for DMR, said in an e-mail sent late last week.

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Shellfish Processors Brace for Red Tide Down East Closures Extensive for Clams, Mussels

Red tide is caused by blooms of naturally occurring algae that produce a toxin that then is absorbed by shellfish as they feed. Eating shellfish affected by the toxins can cause sickness or death in humans. It is always present to...

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