The Scoop On Seafood

From a restaurant handing out free sushi to shark attack victims to a newly discovered strain of poisonous shellfish, here are the latest seafood-related stories making headlines. 

• Shark Attack Survivors Bite Back: Kaiju Sushi and Rice Balls in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, is giving shark attack survivors a unique opportunity for retribution — free mako shark sushi. New Smyrna Beach has been identified by the International Shark Attack File as having the greatest number of attacks in the world, citing 235 incidences (and zero fatalities) between 1882 and 2010.

• Toxic Shellfish in Washington: Shellfish harvesting in Sequim Bay (a small body of water between the Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean) shut down on Friday after Washington health officials announced the first cases of an illness linked to a new strain of biotoxin found in seafood. Three individuals were diagnosed with Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning brought on by eating Sequim Bay mussels. 

• Food Network Goes Shark-Free: Food Network has responded positively to a petition from Change.org asking them to remove all recipes including shark meat as an ingredient. In accordance with the petition (which was signed by 30,000 people) Food Network has agreed to take down all shark recipes published online and refrain from using shark meat on TV and in their magazine. 

The Daily Byte is a regular column dedicated to covering interesting food news and trends across the country. Click here for previous columns.