Shellfish Beds From Maine To Nantucket Closed By Red Tides - LAT

[hatrack]

NEW YORK — "The worst toxic red tide in a generation is contaminating dozens of major shellfish beds in New England, prompting fishery closures from Maine to Nantucket, where clams, mussels and bay scallops are a coastal community's commercial lifeblood. An unusually intense plankton bloom more than 30 miles wide in places continued to spread Saturday, driven by wind and currents into areas that had never known such infestations.

The outbreak may peak in a week, officials said. It may be a month or more, however, before the region, which exports quahog clams and other seafood around the world, can safely resume shell-fishing operations. Toxins from the algae quickly become concentrated in the shellfish, making the shellfish poisonous to eat.

"In terms of the region, this red tide is unprecedented," said Don Anderson, a specialist on red tides and harmful algae blooms at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, Mass. "This is a huge area that is affected." In Nantucket Harbor, the level of toxin jumped to four times the legal limit almost overnight last week. Massachusetts officials closed island shellfish flats Friday.

On Saturday, town officials in Chatham at the southeast tip of Cape Cod, where fishermen harvest about $4 million worth of shellfish every year, finished closing all local waters for the first time in 20 years. "This stuff can be lethal," said Chatham Shellfish Constable Stuart F. Moore, who patrols the town's 63 miles of coastline with eight part-time deputies. "My concern is for all the guys who are looking to be out of work for a long while."

EDIT

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-redtide5jun05,1,2025103.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[donsu]

1. tick, tick, tick

if mercury and cancer in seafood doesn't harm you, red tide will.

the world's oceans are dirty and getting dirtier by the minute.

[pie]

3. Do you believe this:

"Such seafood as crab, lobster, shrimp and fish is not affected, nor are any shellfish products currently on the market, Massachusetts marine fisheries officials said last week. Only shellfish that filter seawater for food can build up dangerous concentrations of toxin in their meat."

[phantom power]

4. I would believe that.

Clams and other filter-feeders are subject to all kinds of toxin warnings that don't apply to other kinds of marine life. There are various places where quahogs aren't allowed to be harvested due to sewage discharge, or other pollution, but fishing is allowed.

[pie]

2. In some areas 'a single plate of steamers could kill a diner'!