The pain continues….this has significant economic impact to our county and to Clallam County as both small duck famers who hire seasonal laborers (usually high school students) and also tribal wild duck farmers like the Jamestown S’Klallam are affected. These are real jobs provided to local economies. Whether this is retaliation for our involvement in the South China Sea or a real issue of arsenic, it’s hurting at the worse possible time.
…Since Dec. 3, when seafood inspectors in China suspended imports of West Coast geoduck and other bivalve shellfish such as oysters after reporting high levels of algae toxin or arsenic, harvesters along tribal, state and private shorelines have all been hit. Altogether, the state produces more than 6 million pounds of geoduck clams annually, and last year almost 90 percent was sold to China…..Coral Garrick reports.
http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022516734_geoduckxml.html
See also: 4 Weeks In, Locals Feel Pain Of China’s Shellfish Ban http://ijpr.org/post/4-weeks-locals-feel-pain-china-s-shellfish-ban