I wish I knew what the marine equivalent of bucolic might be. It would make a great title for this photo. The serene scene above harbors trouble below.
NOAA radio began broadcasting warnings about Paralytic Shellfish Poison (PSP) or red tide contamination in Hancock County this week. The algae blooms that cause PSP have reached the mud flats in some Downeast areas that are home to clams and mussels. Right now, the warning is up roughly from Isle Au Haute to Millbridge for mussels and snails. Other warnings over a broader area are likely to follow. The local TV news is reporting the dangers of digging your own clams and mussels and dutifully explaining the safety of the same products provided by commercial harvesters and sold in stores and restaurants. This is made possible by an extensive testing program run out of labs in Boothbay Harbor and Lamoine. I have been present in the lab when PSP testing was going on and have a lot of confidence in the program.
Red Tide blooms occur in warm weather, which is about the most inconvenient time for diggers, restaurants and votaries of the mussel and clam. Too bad to have the flow of bivalves interrupted just when the diggin's good and the market's strong. In the wake of what might be a disaster for all kinds of seafood news outlets are constantly reminding me that fin fish, crabs and lobsters are not part of the shellfish biotoxin problem.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources estimated that last year red tide closures cost the state $10 million. Let's hope we get off a little easier this season. I'll be interested to see what forces of supply and demand win out over the next few weeks and what happens to clam prices this summer. I'll be sure to pay attention when I cruise by the seafood counter at the grocery store.
I do know that if you call the maine fisheries hotline, you can find out if the area where you wish to dig for clams is affected. I am happy to report that I sucessfully dug on GI for several days in both June, and July, and the clams were bigger than usual, probably because of the previous several years' red tide.
ReplyDeleteIt is always a good idea to call first.