4 October 2002
Mexico A non-toxic red tide, together with other environmental factors at sea, have caused the strange loss of life of bluefin at farms in Ensenada, Mexico.The red tides appears every summer around the coasts of the peninsula.
It is a usual phenomenon in the oceanic environment, because it presents ideal conditions for the reproduction of microorganisms.In this case, the red tide, although non-toxic, together with certain factors such as a higher sea temperature, among others, when combined together stimulated a growth of microorganism reproduction. This is due to the fact that the bluefin tunas were confined in the coastal zone and could not retrieve from this area. Therefore they remained within the stained zone and died asphyxiated, although Red Tide normally does not form a threat to tuna species, because they can avoid it by swimming around it. Apparently the microorganisms invaded their nutgalls; this being the cause of death of the Bluefin tuna fattened in the farms of Ejido Esteban Cantú el Rincón de Ballenas and Salsipuedes.According to a civil employee, the red-tide phenomenon has been followed closely by institutes such as the University, Fishing Research Centers, Marine Secretariat and the results confirm that these organisms are not of the toxic type like those which can be found in the Gulf of Mexico or the Coasts of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
The red tide that appears in this zone contains nontoxic organisms, and therefore, on its own does not represent toxicity danger to health, however combined as in the case of the Bluefin tunas, can be lethal.
