Seafood Safety

Florida is home to world-class fishing and world-class seafood. Fishing as a sport and as a source for delicious food is both a pastime and an industry in Florida. Learn about the few precautions you should take while enjoying the best Florida has to offer by checking local fish advisories based on non-HABs related contaminants and by monitoring the local shellfish harvesting statuses to get the latest information concerning the health and safety of Florida seafood related to HABs and other standards.

Florida Fish Advisories: DOH Fish Advisories

Shellfish Harvesting Status: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

CFP is an illness that is brought to you by the food chain. Ciguatoxin is a naturally-occurring marine toxin found in large predatory reef fish. These fish accumulate ciguatoxin when they eat fish that have consumed algae containing the toxin. People can become sick with CFP when they eat the predatory reef fish; in Florida, that often means barracuda and moray eel but can also include grouper, amberjack, snapper, tuna, kingfish, trevally, sea bass, mackerel, hogfish, and mahi-mahi. CFP is one of the most common seafood-toxin illnesses in the world.

CFP symptoms usually show up within 24 hours of eating tainted fish. Symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and cramping usually appear first, followed by symptoms like itchy skin and achy teeth, muscles, or joints. Some people experience painful urination or a tingling sensation in their arms and legs. A very strange symptom is temperature reversal: hot can feel cold and cold can feel hot. It’s rare, but sometimes the toxin can pass from mother to child during breastfeeding. Male-to-female sexual transmissions have been reported.

Cooking fish does not get rid of the ciguatoxin. Gastric acid (or marinades of vinegar, lemons, and limes), smoking, freezing, canning, salting, or pickling also do not get rid of the ciguatoxin. It is difficult to know if a fish has the toxin because the toxin does not affect the texture, taste, or smell of a fish. Stay safe from CFP and do not eat the high-risk fish. For all reef fish, never eat the liver, intestines, roe, and head—the highest concentrations of toxin have been found in these tissues. If CFP has been reported in your area, avoid eating reef fish until the advisory has been lifted.

Eating shellfish contaminated with naturally-occurring brevetoxins can cause NSP. Clams, mussels, oysters, and scallops are filter feeders that can concentrate toxins. If harvested from areas with harmful algal blooms (HABs), they can be contaminated with the toxins. In addition, marine gastropods, such as conch and whelk, feed off these shellfish so they can also potentially be contaminated. Your safest choice is to not harvest or eat these shellfish in red tide affected areas. NSP symptoms include: nausea and vomiting, tingling of the mouth, lips, and tongue and slurred speech and dizziness. Neurological symptoms can progress to partial paralysis and respiratory problems.

Cooking, heating, or freezing shellfish does not get rid of the toxins. It is hard to know if shellfish have the toxins because the toxins do not affect the texture, taste, or smell of shellfish. Do not harvest or eat shellfish from shellfish harvesting areas that are closed by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Commercially available fish and shellfish, from a grocery store or restaurant, for example, are generally safe to eat.

The muscle of scallops harvested in areas where there are HABs is safe to eat. Scallop muscle is generally free of toxin, but the rest of the scallop is not. Other shellfish seafood such as crabs, lobsters, and shrimp can be eaten because they are not affected, but do not eat their tomalley (green stuff, hepatopancreas).

PSP is caused by saxitoxin—a naturally-occurring marine toxin. In Florida, this toxin is usually found in puffer fish, while in other areas of the U.S., the toxin has been found in shellfish, such as clams.

Saxitoxin can cause serious illness. Five to thirty minutes after eating a contaminated puffer fish, there may be a sensation of tingling and numbness of the face and neck, which can also spread to the arms and legs. Other symptoms may include headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, rapid onset of pain, and kidney problems. You could also have trouble breathing, swallowing, and speaking. In very severe cases, paralysis can occur.

Cooking puffer fish does not get rid of the saxitoxin. It is difficult to know if a puffer fish has the toxin because it does not affect the texture, taste, or smell of the fish. You should avoid eating puffer fish.