Latest Fact Sheet

Season 4, Ep 8 - Shellfish

·Shellfish are one of New Zealand’s most abundant forms of seafood, with around three thousand six hundred native species.

·The creamy rich flavour you get from eating oysters and mussels is the taste of the reproductive tissue.

·Last year we imported nearly two million oysters and over 600 tonnes of other shellfish species.

·We spent even more on home grown shellfish and splashed out a massive 35 million on green shell mussels alone.

·Green shell mussels are a native New Zealand species and there are over a thousand farms growing them around the country. Greenshell mussel farming is our most prevalent form of aquaculture.

·Greenshell mussels are independently ranked as one of the world’s top eco-friendly seafoods.

·Shellfish are high in cholesterol, but recent studies show only a weak link between dietary and blood cholesterol so if you don’t have high cholesterol already, shellfish shouldn’t do your heart any harm.

·Salmon is the best source of Omega 3, but oysters and mussels are also up there.Just over 60 grams of each –around three mussels or Pacific oysters – will provide the amount you require daily to reduce the risk of heart disease.

·As well as being rich in Omega 3, mussels and oysters are the best common dietary sources of iodine.

·Around five Greenshell mussels or seven Pacific oysters will meet your daily requirement of iodine. This compares with 700g of fish or 10 kilos of chicken.

·In 1987 three people died and a hundred and five were hospitalised after eating mussels in Canada. Six years later 180 people suffered the effects of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning here in New Zealand.

·Biotoxins in shellfish are a result of the tiny plants shellfish dine on containing potentially killer poisons which can accumulate in the shellfish.

·One particularly nasty form of shellfish poisoning is Amnesic shellfish poisoning, which damages brain cells.It can cause permanent short-term memory loss and there have occasionally been deaths.

·Paralytic shellfish poisoning was the most commonly diagnosed form of biotoxin poisoning last year and there were only four reported cases. Although rare in New Zealand, it can be often fatal, killing around ten per cent of its victims globally.

·Symptoms of toxic shellfish poisoning vary,but can include vomiting and diarrhoea,tingling or burning around the lips and mouth, slurred speech and shortness of breath.

·There is a monitoring programme in place to ensure that commercial shellfish don’t contain biotoxins – however, it’s important for recreational shellfish gatherers to be careful.

·Recreational shellfish gathering is still a popular pastime. Each year it’s estimated we collect up to seven million pipi, two million scallops and two million mussels.

·To minimise the risk of food poisoning when gathering, avoid shellfish from areas close to cattle, drains, houses and recreational boats which could discharge sewage.

·To safeguard against any contamination, commercial shellfish operations must be a safe distance from pollution sources, regularly test for bacteria, and stop harvesting after heavy rain.

·Cooking shellfish at 80 degrees for at least three minutes will kill any bacteria and if you’re cooking mussels or scallops, give the shells a tap. If they close they’re good. If they don’t, they’re dead so chuck them in the bin.

·A recent study suggests mussels could be an aphrodisiac. It found mussels are high in two amino acids which, according to separate animal research, trigger the release of higher levels of sex hormones.But as heating reduces the levels of these amino acids, you have to eat the mussels raw for them to have any effect.

Read more about Shellfish via these links.