The shellfishing season on the East End is off to a bumpy start. 

The Department of Environmental Conservation has put a temporary ban on shellfishing in parts of the Shinneocock Bay and the Great Peconic Bay. 

The ban is a result of the detection of a marine biotoxin in shellfish that can be harmful to consumers. 

According to a release by the DEC, the action was taken after DEC determined that mussels collected from biotoxin monitoring sites in the affected areas tested positive for saxitoxin – a marine biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.

According to Stony Brook University professor Dr. Chris Gobler, the discovery has led to the temporary closes of 2,000 acres of shellfish beds in the two bodies of water.