Vila Real de Santo António council has questioned the results of the water analysis carried out by the Marine Institute (IPMA) that claimed high toxin levels which led to a ban on shellfish harvesting affecting hundreds of local families.
The bivalve ban started several weeks ago and covers the coastal zone between Tavira and Vila Real.
The council has had its own tests done by a Spanish laboratory which show markedly different results and now it wants answers from the Secretary of State on the conditions and reliability of the IPMA’s testing regime.
These analyses are vital to the local shellfish industry and the council’s use of a lab used by the Junta de Andalucía in Spain gave results that showed that the presence toxins along the coastal area in question was below the legal minimum so the harvesting of bivalve should not have been prohibited and should be lifted immediately.
"This is a situation that leaves us severely worried, so we demand a clarification about what is happening along our coasts. If two official laboratories have different results for the same tests, we have to investigate the situation to its logical conclusion," said Luís Gomes, the president of Vila Real de Santo António council.
"The ban, which has dragged on for weeks, is causing great hardship to dozens of families that make a living from the shellfish industry. It is time to clarify the data and lift the bans,” added Gomes.
This rightfully combative attitude comes just days after the council met the Secretary of State for the Sea, Manuel Pinto de Abreu, to assess the economic consequences of the banning of shellfish harvesting, specifically at Monte Gordo beach.
At this meeting, the council asked the secretary of state to speed up the dissemination of the test results that trigger banning orders for harvesting and capturing bivalves, as the data being used for the current ban dates back to the months of March and May. It now seems the data may have been faulty to begin with.
