Another shellfish ban after biotoxin find

The harvesting of shellfish and some creatures that feed on it has been temporarily banned in about 3,900 acres of the Town of Southampton, as a result of the presence of saxitoxin, a marine biotoxin that can be harmful to humans.

The ban took effect Tuesday after the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation determined shellfish samples collected at area monitoring sites tested positive for saxitoxin, according to a release from the department.

The harvesting of carnivorous gastropods - conchs and whelks, which feed on shellfish - was also banned in Meetinghouse Creek in Riverhead, where shellfish harvesting is already prohibited, according to the release.

The area of Southampton affected by the shellfish and carnivorous gastropod ban: Shinnecock Bay west of the southbound lanes of the Ponquogue Bridge and west of the western side of the Post Lane Bridge in Quogue.

About 92 acres in Mattituck Creek and Mattituck Inlet in Southold, closed April 3 to shellfish harvesting, remain closed.

That closing represents the first time the biotoxin has been found in Mattituck during open harvesting season and the earliest the state has closed down a shellfishing area since it began sampling for the contaminant in 2006, said William Hastback, shellfisheries section head for the state Department of Environmental Conservation. Closures typically do not begin until early or mid-May.

Further analysis will be conducted in the coming weeks, and the areas will be re-opened "as soon as possible," the release said.

Shellfish harvesters can monitor the status of these closings at the department's information line at 631-444-0480.