Florida to reopen Pasco scallop season Wednesday after closure caused by unsafe toxins

State waters along Pasco County will reopen Wednesday to recreational scallop harvesting after a month-long closure prompted by water quality testing that found unsafe toxins caused by algal blooms.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the Pasco zone, which include state waters that run south of the Hernando-Pasco County line and north of the Anclote Key Lighthouse in northern Pinellas County (also encompassing the Anclote River), will remain open to scallop harvesting through Sept. 24, the agency said in a Tuesday announcement.

The popular scalloping area was closed in late July after officials said water quality testing detected potentially dangerous levels of an algal bloom called Pyrodinium bahamense and the toxin it produces. The toxin the algae creates can build up in shellfish and lead to human illnesses if a person eats contaminated scallops.

Testing during the closure showed that both the algae and the toxin it creates had returned to safe levels based on thresholds set by the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, according to officials. However, the state recommends that people should only eat the scallop muscle, and not the roe or entire scallop.

The state said it is continuing to monitor scallop and water samples.

“Public safety is our top priority, and we wanted to ensure that levels dropped below the safety threshold before we considered reopening the season,” said Fish and Wildlife Executive Director Roger Young in a written statement.

Experts routinely pull water samples in areas where scallops are harvested looking for algal blooms. If they find it in the water, scallops will be tested for toxins.

Scallops can collect the toxins, which are colorless, tasteless and have no smell, according to wildlife experts. Cooking cannot destroy the toxins. If a human were to eat a scallop with high levels of the toxin, they could become ill with paralytic shellfish poisoning, which could lead to dizziness, nausea, vomiting, respiratory issues, headaches and other health complications.

Times staff writers Max Chesnes and Barbara Behrendt contributed to this report.