People are being warned not to collect or eat shellfish from Northland's east coast due to toxic poisoning risks.
Photo: 123rf.com
The alert covers the area between Cape Brett in the north to Taiharuru Head in the south.
The Ministry for Primary Industries said tests on shellfish samples from this region showed levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins that were nearly double the safe limit.
It said anyone eating shellfish from this area could get sick, and cooking it did not remove the toxin.
Toxic shellfish warnings were already in place for Eastern Bay of Plenty between Cape Runaway and Matata, and from the Ashburton River to Gore Bay in Canterbury.
