Negeri Sembilan’s fisheries department director Kasim Tawe said the level was lower than the first sample at a rate of 800 parts per billion (ppb) but still not safe for consumption.

“We need three tests to identify whether to continue or cancel the ban on the collection and sale of mussels from the location.

“The third sample was taken today and the results are expected this Friday.

“So for now, mussels in the area are still not safe to eat and the ban on selling them by retailers or fishermen is still in place,” he said.

Kasim said the presence of biotoxins in the waters, which occurs naturally, is likely to be accelerated by weather changes or the nutrient content of the seawater in the waters involved.

On April 4, the department’s deputy director-general (management), Wan Aznan Abdullah, said laboratory analysis found that harmful algae had caused mussels in Port Dickson’s waters to be contaminated and unsafe to eat.

He said water samples and mussels in the waters were contaminated with biotoxins and the dangerous Prorocentrum, Alexandrium and Pseudonitzschia algae species.