Thames Coromandel District Council says shellfish in the Bay of Plenty and the eastern Coromandel have high levels of toxins and are unsafe for eating.
The council says testing of samples this week has shown dangerous levels of paralytic shellfish posion, which can cause facial numbness and respiratory failure.
It says shellfish should not be collected from Tairua in the Coromandel through to Whakatane.
TCDC says mussels, pipi, tuatua, cockles, oysters and kina are off the menu, but paua, crayfish and crabs can be taken as long as the gut is removed before cooking.
