DFO shuts down shellfish harvesting areas across Maritimes

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has announced the closure of a large number of shellfish fisheries in the Maritimes following heavy rainfall from Hurricane Dorian over the weekend.

In a release, it said the closures will remain in effect for at least a week and are in addition to closures already in place.

For P.E.I. all waters within three kilometres of the coast are closed including all of Prince County anda portion of Queens County from the Prince County border at Wrights Point near Victoria to Duchess Point in Charlottetown.

There are also closures in New Brunswickalong the eastern and northeastern part of the province,from a point near Maisonnette to the Nova Scotia border.

For Nova Scotia, it includes portions of Cumberland, Colchester and Pictou Counties, from Lewis Head near the mouth of the Philip River to Cape John.

DFOsaid theclosures are to protect fishermenand the public because "eating contaminated shellfish can lead to serious illness or even death."

Tests will be conducted to determine when these areas can be reopened to fishing.

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