After pause, Pasco County scallop season back on

Scallop season is back on in Pasco County.

Why it matters: The decision last month to postpone the season due to water quality issues cut into tourism and fanfare around the popular activity.

• Last year's season drew more than 40,000 visitors and had a nearly $12 million economic impact .

State of play: The season reopens today and will last through Sept. 24, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) announced yesterday.

• The Pasco scalloping zone spans the Gulf of Mexico from the Hernando-Pasco county line south to the Anclote Key Lighthouse in north Pinellas. That includes the Anclote River, per FWC.
• As a precaution, the agency recommended eating only the scallop muscle, not the roe or the whole scallop.

Why they love it: Scalloping is like an underwater Easter egg hunt, in which divers search seagrass beds for the shellfish and collect them in mesh bags.

• The daily limit is 10 gallons of whole scallops per boat or two gallons per person.

Catch up quick: On July 24, two weeks after the Pasco season began, the state pressed pause after water quality tests revealed unsafe levels of the algae Pyrodinium bahamense and the toxins it produces.

• Boaters and divers canceled plans, while organizers of the first-ever Pasco Scallop Fest, which ran multiple weekends and wrapped Aug. 10, had to turn to the east coast for the main dish .

Threat level: Those toxins can build up in shellfish and puffer fish and cause health issues in humans who eat them. They have no taste, smell or color and can't be eradicated with cooking.

• Symptoms include numbness or tingling of the mouth, dizziness, nausea and incoherent speech, according to FWC.
• Onset is usually within 15 minutes of ingestion but can occur up to 10 hours later. The illness can last from 12 hours to 45 days, in severe cases.

Flashback: Scalloping only returned to Pasco in 2018 . The activity was banned in 1994 because there weren't enough scallops in the area to sustain a harvest.

Zoom out: Divers can also hunt for the shellfish in Gulf waters between the Suwanee and Fenholloway rivers through Labor Day and off the coast of Hernando, Citrus, Levy, Northwest Taylor, Wakulla, Franklin and Gulf counties through Sept. 24, per FWC .