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Our Environment

Shellfish Research Report

What's in our shellfish?

Towards the end of 2006 Environment Bay of Plenty (EnvBOP), Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Toi Te Ora Public Health Service agreed it was necessary to obtain better information on the pathogen levels in shellfish so the public could be better informed of the risks of collecting and eating shellfish from local beds. 

 As both Tauranga Harbour and Waihi Estuary are used extensively for gathering and consumption of non-commercial shellfish, they were selected for monitoring. 

Over the last few years the New Zealand Food Safety Authority has funded the development of norovirus testing for shellfish and was interested in proving the methodology in a field situation and also gathering data to support predictive modelling of viral contamination. 

To this end these organisations agreed to fund a joint project to fill some of the current information gaps relating to microbiological contamination of shellfish and adjacent waters.

For more information about the study check out the resources below.