Environmental Health
Food Safety
Harvesting of Shellfish
Some species of shellfish (live bivalve molluscs), such as oysters, mussels, cockles
etc., are filter feeders and accumulate sewage contamination and toxins from the
water around them.
Therefore, their consumption can cause illness. To control the risk of illness,
live bivalve molluscs being placed on the market for human consumption must originate
from a classified production area.
Areas are classified per species according to the degree of contamination, based
on monitoring of faecal contamination in the shellfish. Only shellfish from Class
A waters can be placed on the market directly.
An annual list of classified areas is published by the Food Standards Agency in
Scotland. Should you wish to apply for a new area to be classified, please contact
Environmental Health for an application form.
South Ayrshire Council regularly sample our classified production area, in conjunction
with shellfish harvesters and North Ayrshire Council, to ensure levels of bacteria
and algal toxins are safe. A table of the latest algal toxins results is published
by Food Standards Agency. Temporary closure notices, prohibiting the harvesting
of shellfish, are served where results reveal a risk to public health.
Areas Currently Classified within South Ayrshire are:
|
Production Area
|
Species
|
Site Name
|
Boundaries
|
Status
|
|
North Bay
|
Razors
|
Barassie (SA-337-719-16)
|
Area bounded by lines drawn between NS 3130 3136 and NS 3130 3450 and between NS
3130 3450 and NS 3236 3450 extending to MHWS
|
Open
|
Shellfish Traceability
To ensure traceability of the product, a registration document requires to accompany
each batch of live shellfish during transportation from the production area to the
dispatch or purification centre.
Please contact us for registration documents if you wish to gather shellfish from
a classified production area within South Ayrshire.
All shellfish leaving an approved dispatch or purification centre must be labelled
with an identification mark, which includes their unique approval number, before
being placed on the market for human consumption.