Fishermen in Indonesia are being barred from harvesting mussels from the Jakarta Bay because the water is so polluted that it could give people cancer.
Water quality in the area has been a recurrent problem for years because of the volume of industrial waste that flows into the waters.
But now authorities in Jakarta have put a hold on issuing permits to farmers harvesting green mussels in the bay because of fears that eating them could seriously damage people’s health.
The sea water in Jakarta Bay, which lies just north of Jakarta city, has high concentrations of heavy metals especially lead, cadmium and copper.
Mussels, which are grown in the muddy waters, have special absorption capabilities which in the past lead to them being used specifically to help keep the water clean.
But after they have absorbed these contaminants they then effectively become poisonous and should not be eaten.
Last month the chief of the North Jakarta Fishery and Marine Department, Sri Haryati, voiced her concern about the fast sale of green mussels in the market.
She said: ‘Those mussels and fish have been contaminated by industrial waste and heavy metals, such as mercury, cadmium and zinc,’ she said.
The quality of the water has deteriorated sharply since the the 1980s as the area became increasingly industrialised, as the water pollution worsened the fish stocks began to die out meaning that fishermen were increasingly dependent on the plentiful but toxic green mussels.
Fishermen are now being encouraged to switch to catfish farming or move their operations to nearby Banten where the water quality is better to help counteract the problem.
The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Agency says that since 2010, it has conducted an operation to convert 5,000 shellfish farmers on the coast into catfish farmers.
Associated Newspapers Ltd