The Washington State Department of Health announced today that due to dangerous levels of biotoxins, recreational shellfish farming of clams, oysters, mussels, geoduck and scallops has been suspended on Marrowstone Island. Harvesting at Fort Flagler State Park, Mystery Bay and Kilisut Harbor was specifically ruled out in a press release from the Jefferson County Public Health Department. The dangerous marine toxin is known to cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning. PSP symptoms can appear within minutes or hours of ingestion and can cause death. It begins as a tingling sensation in the lips and tongue, moving later to the extremities, followed by difficulty breathing. These toxins are not destroyed by cooking or freezing contaminated shellfish. Crab meat is not known to carry the biotoxin but crab guts can and should be thoroughly cleaned and removed in order to ingest the meat safely the Jefferson County Public Health Department said in a press release.