Warwick shellfisherman Jody King would have preferred working the Columbus Day weekend. Conditions were good, and he finds quahogging in October the best.

Yet, he applauds the Department of Environmental Management for closing Narragansett Bay to virtually all shellfishing for an indeterminate period because of a harmful algae bloom caused by the presence of toxic phytoplankton Pseudo-nitzschia spp.DEM announced Friday the first-ever harmful algae bloom-related shellfishing closure in Rhode Island. The toxin, known as domoic acid, produced by these phytoplankton is responsible for causing amnesiac shellfish poisoning (ASP) in humans. Symptoms of ASP include short- and long-term memory loss along with other serious health effects.

King said Saturday the DEM and the state Department of Health were proactive in closing the bay to shellfishing.

“Nobody got sick, nobody died. They caught it in time,” he said.

King, who is one of about 200 licensed shellfishermen who make their livelihood from bullraking and diving for quahogs, said the industry would have suffered far more had someone been sick from eating Rhode Island clams. King doesn’t expect the bay to reopen until tests of quahog meat, which he said are being done in Maine, show safe levels of the toxin. King didn’t venture how long that might be.

On Monday, King said he had been contacted by DEM and told that four of five tests on the clam meat were clean and the fifth was questionable. Also, he said, the algae bloom was still present.

Efforts to contact DEM were unsuccessful and there were no further updates on the DEM website.

King said he’s not seen any visible sign of the algae bloom. If anything, he said, the water hasn’t been cleared since the winter months.

“You can see the shells on the bottom in 17 and 18 feet of water,” he said. “That’s what has me baffled,” he said, “the water looks terrific.”

King learned of the notice early Friday before leaving the dock. He said other shellfishermen weren’t as fortunate and were ordered to dump their catch overboard.