The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) has announced that effective today, Friday, March 24, it has lifted the emergency shellfishing closure for areas of Rhode Island Sound, lower Narragansett Bay south of the Newport Pell and Jamestown Verrazzano Bridges, and lower Sakonnet River east to Horseneck Beach in Westport. 

The February closure, which some experts called highly unusual, was due to a harmful algae bloom that has now subsided.

Out of what it called an abundance of caution, DEM and the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) analyzed shellfish and water samples from both closed and open waters for the presence of domoic acid – a toxin responsible for amnesic shellfish poisoning in humans – throughout the closure period. Recent test results for shellfish show little to no evidence of this toxin. 

All shellfish on the market is safe from domoic acid, the agency said. DEM will continue to monitor local waters as part of its regular survey program.