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New
England Shellfish Beds Reopen After Toxic Red Algae Recedes |
Posted:
07.01.05
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Shellfish beds in seven New England coastal communities were
reopened after the worst red tide toxic algae bloom in decades.
Printer-friendly versions: PDF
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Recent tests indicate the red tide algae bloom that poisoned
clams, oysters, and mussels from Maine to Cape Cod has receded,
and certain shellfish species are now safe to harvest.
Although the announcement is good news for fishermen across the
Northeastern Atlantic coast, many New England shellfish beds remain
closed.
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said the red tide has cost
the shellfish industry about $3 million per week.
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What causes
red tide? |
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This red tide occurred when Alexandrium fundyense, an alga that
lives naturally on the ocean floor as cysts, bloomed in large
amounts and floats to the ocean's surface.
The algae produce a toxin called saxitoxin. Scientists are unsure
if the toxin protects the algae from plankton predators or if
it has no purpose at all.
This particular bloom was caused when spring weather, including
several "Nor'easter storms," pushed the microscopic
single-celled organisms toward the shoreline, where they found
more food to eat and lots of sunshine to stimulate their growth.
 This
combination "is like sprinkling fertilizer on a lawn,"
Peter Borrelli, executive director of the Provincetown Center
for Coastal Studies, told The Boston Globe.
Some scientists think that the severity of this year's bloom,
the worst since 1972, could be the result of the effects of more
people living closer to the shore. More people mean more sewage,
which contain nitrates. Nitrates act as fertilizer to marine systems
like the red tide algae.
"Red tide is a natural phenomenon. It happens periodically,"
Bob Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's
Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, told the Boston Globe.
"But is it exacerbated by the number of people who live
along the coast? Is that in some way fueling this whole outbreak?
You just don't know until it's over."
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Red Tide's
impact |
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Shellfish, such as clams, mussels and oysters, ingest the toxic
algae through filtering systems in which they suck in about 2
½ gallons of seawater per hour. The algae pools in their
stomachs, where it is eventually discharged over long periods
of time.
 The
toxins do not harm the shellfish but can cause serious illness
or even death in humans.
Because of tight government rules that regulate the safety of
seafood, no one has reported becoming ill from this outbreak.
Other fish, like lobster, crab, shrimp and most fin fish were
not affected by the red tide. Even scallops, which do filter the
algae, remained safe to eat if only the cleaned adductor muscle
- usually the only part eaten - was consumed.
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A blow to
tourism |
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Nevertheless, local fish restaurants have seen the impact of
the outbreak.
"It has cut into sales. People are concerned," Bud
Noyes, owner of JT's Seafood Restaurant in Cape Cod, told the
Hartford Courant. "I can relate it to mad cow disease when
people stopped eating steak.
Noyes, like a lot of other buyers, had to look to new sources
of seafood, in his case Canada. Many others are heading farther
south to the Chesapeake Bay for their shellfish.
"They want all we can get right now," Bill Boulter,
a longtime Maryland clammer, told Newsday. "The market's
been open for weeks, ever since the red tide hit, I guess."
 And
local chambers of commerce want to convince would-be-travelers
that their beaches are safe for swimming.
Unlike the red tides that have closed beaches in Florida with
murky smelly water that can release airborne toxins and cause
respiratory problems in people, the New England red tide algae
are invisible, odorless and harmless to swimmers.
Friday's announcement indicates that the worst may be over for
the local economy.
The reopened waters represent a small percentage of those closed,
but they are also among the most productive--the reopened beds
around Massachusetts's Monomoy Island, for example, account for
nearly 50 percent of the value of the state's soft-shell clam
harvest.
State officials have said that they expect more areas to reopen
in the next week.
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Compiled by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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