{"id":25412,"date":"2026-02-26T14:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=25412"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T14:08:15","slug":"red-tide-triggers-west-coast-lobster-washouts-public-warned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=25412","title":{"rendered":"Red tide triggers West Coast lobster washouts, public warned"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"textFreeArticle\">\n<p>A red tide event along South Africa\u2019s West Coast has triggered mass lobster and fish washouts, with authorities warning the public not to consume affected seafood due to health risks.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) said low oxygen levels caused by algal blooms led to large-scale marine deaths, including West Coast rock lobster.<\/p>\n<p>Read:<\/p>\n<div class=\"ApplePlainTextBody\" dir=\"auto\">Let them eat lobster! [Oct 2025]<\/div>\n<div class=\"ApplePlainTextBody\" dir=\"auto\">Seahorses, shellfish wash up on SA beaches after Western Cape floods [Sep 2023]<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe time of death cannot be confirmed \u2026 consumption may result in severe illness or death,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Authorities have activated contingency measures, including relocating live lobsters, removing carcasses and monitoring water conditions.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The incident also poses risks to the fishing industry, particularly small-scale operators and coastal communities that rely on lobster catches for income.<\/p>\n<p>Read:<\/p>\n<div class=\"ApplePlainTextBody\" dir=\"auto\">We can still save our abalone and lobster stocks \u2013 here\u2019s how [May 2022]<\/div>\n<p>Red tide events can disrupt supply, affect prices and lead to temporary fishing restrictions, adding pressure to an already constrained sector.<\/p>\n<div class=\"visible-sm-block visible-xs-block m1010\">\n<div class=\"ad-container-wrapper\">\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT:<\/p>\n<p>CONTINUE READING BELOW<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Police have been deployed to prevent the illegal collection and sale of contaminated seafood.<\/p>\n<p><em>* Likho Mbuka is a Moneyweb intern.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Follow Moneyweb\u2019s in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\">\n            !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n            {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n                n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n                if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n                n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n                t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n                s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n                'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n            fbq('init', '779812924991616');\n            fbq('track', 'PageView');\n        <\/script>#Red #tide #triggers #West #Coast #lobster #washouts #public #warned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A red tide event along South A&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[5069,6820,2018,1184,6758,2449,11151,14553,5956],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25412"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}