SEAFOOD HARVESTED IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AGENTS IMPLICATED IN ADVERSE REACTIONS

In 2003, the total harvest of seafood in South Africa amounted to 673 812 tons of which about 80 % was exported with a wholesale value of US $ 4.8 million.4,5 Bony fish such as anchovy, hake and pilchard continue to be the most commonly processed seafood followed by crustaceans (e.g. rock lobster). This was also demonstrated in our postal survey of workplaces along the West Coast of South Africa in which 76 % of all seafood processing workplaces processed bony fish and 34 % processed rock lobster.6 The major seafood groups that induce allergic reactions belong to three phyla7 including bony fish, crustacean and molluscs (see Table I). The two invertebrate phyla of crustaceans and molluscs are generally referred to as ‘shellfish’. The allergic and inflammatory reactions associate