Scientists have discovered a mystery parasite—what will it mean for the future of Washington’s oysters?
Interesting article that features the Jamestown S’Klallam and their efforts to restore Olympia Oysters, and scientists trying to better understand the history of this mysterious parasite.
Filed under: Aquaculture, Around the Salish Sea, Environmental Science | Tagged: Parasites, Shellfish | Comments Off on Trouble on the Half Shell
Why continuing scientific research on the Salish Sea is so important to continue funding.
In July of 2018 and 2019, large numbers of oysters, cockles and clams died on beaches all around Puget Sound. No one knew why. It was a particularly bad couple of years, but summer mortality events with mass die-offs of shellfish happen regularly. They’ve been recorded by researchers in western Washington as far back as the 1930s. The source has remained a mystery. Now, scientists have pinpointed the cause: two species of toxic algae that don’t threaten people much — but can wreak havoc on the ecosystem. Beginning to figure out what’s killing so many shellfish is a breakthrough for growers and communities who live near the beaches. Bellamy Pailthorp reports. (KNKX)
Filed under: Around the Salish Sea, Around the Sound, Environmental Science | Tagged: die-off, Puget Sound, research, Shellfish | Comments Off on Researchers identify shellfish-killing phytoplankton behind massive summer die-offs in Puget Sound -KNKX
The Chehalis River is one of the locations mentioned in this article.
Mussels, the backbone of the river ecosystem because they control silt levels and filter water, are facing a mysterious affliction
— Read on www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/14/the-smell-will-knock-you-off-your-feet-mass-mussel-die-offs-baffle-scientists
Filed under: Climate Change, Global Warming, Shellfish | Tagged: Chehalis River, Shellfish, Threats | Comments Off on ‘The smell will knock you off your feet’: mass mussel die-offs baffle scientists | Environment | The Guardian
Filed under: Puget Sound, Shellfish | Tagged: pinto abalone, Puget Sound, Shellfish, Snails | Comments Off on Pinto Abalone Seeking State Endangered Species Listing
Port Townsend – Marine biotoxins that cause Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) have declined enough to allow recreational shellfish harvesting for oysters, manila clams and mussels at Fort Flagler, Kilisut Harbor and Mystery Bay. The area is still posted closed for harvesting of butter and varnish clams due to the fact that they remain toxic for longer than other shellfish species. In August, PSP concentrations quickly rose to over 1,700 micrograms per 100 grams of shellfish, and remained high into Fall. PSP levels above 80 micrograms are considered unsafe, and levels in the thousands can be lethal to humans. Crab meat is not known to contain the biotoxin but the guts can contain unsafe levels. To be safe, clean crab thoroughly and discard the guts (butter).
To make sure you are harvesting the correct shellfish species, consult the species identifier chart at: www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/332-087.pdf. In most cases the algae that contain the toxins cannot be seen, and must be detected using laboratory testing. Therefore, recreational shellfish harvesters should check the Shellfish Safety map at www.doh.wa.gov/ShellfishSafety.htm or call the Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632 before harvesting shellfish anywhere in Washington State. Recreational harvesters should also check Fish and Wildlife regulations and seasons at wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish or the Shellfish Rule Change Hotline 1-866-880-5431.
Filed under: Jefferson County, Jefferson County, Puget Sound | Tagged: Fort Flagler, Jefferson County, Kilisut Harbor, mystery bay, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Limited Shellfish Opening at Fort Flagler, Kilisut Harbor and Mystery Bay
Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife have proposed listing the Pinto Abalone (Haliotis kamtschatkana) as endangered locally. Though attempts at cultivation have been tried, they have not been considered successful at levels capable of sustaining the population.
Pinto Abalone have been in significant decline since the late 1980s. While there never was a commercial fishery for them, recreational divers harvested untold amounts, as the catch was never monitored. Habitat destruction also is understood to have played a role.
According to the WDFW web site (https://wdfw.wa.gov/conservation/pinto_abalone/):
The overall goal of the abalone recovery team is to halt the declines of abalone populations in the Pacific Northwest and to return populations to self-sustainable levels. Such a long term goal requires a suite of interim goals and the development of numerous methodologies. To date, such interim goals have enabled the abalone recovery team to successfully:
Develop hatchery and nursery programs for captive propagation and rearing of abalone.
Develop protocols to maintain genetically diverse and disease-free families in restoration hatchery facilities.
Conduct experimental outplants of juvenile hatchery reared abalone to assess the efficacy of outplants as a restoration strategy.
Aggregate adult abalone in the wild to enhance reproductive potential and to assess this method as a restoration strategy.
Outplant abalone post-larvae at experimental locations to assess this method as a restoration strategy.
Draft a collaborative Pinto Abalone Recovery Plan for Washington.
Launch a public outreach campaign targeting divers, schools, boaters, fishers and the general public.
This body of work represents nearly two decades of basic and applied science and has laid the foundation for increasing the scale of the abalone recovery effort. Such an effort will require a broad coalition of scientists, advocates, policymakers, and volunteers. For more information on this process please contact WDFW lead abalone biologist Michael Ulrich (hyperlink to : Michael.Ulrich@dfw.wa.gov).
WHAT YOU CAN DO: WDFW is soliciting any available data on the species, and seeks public comment on a proposal to list the pinto abalone as a State Endangered Species. Please consider attending one of the following public meetings:
December 4, 2018, 6:00 p.m.
Northwest Maritime Center
431 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368
Or, submit comments and questions to:
WDFW, Fish Program, attention: Michael Ulrich
P.O. Box 43200
Olympia, WA 98504-3200
(360) 902-2737
Michael.Ulrich@dfw.wa.gov
Filed under: Puget Sound, Shellfish | Tagged: pinto abalone, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on State Fish & Wildlife propose endangered listing for Pinto Abalone
Local PBS show ReInventors highlights the work of NOAA Manchester’s research facility as they race to find a hybrid oyster that can survive ocean acidification. A very good quick look at the problem, with animation, and the possible solution. If we are going to have seafood survive, this will likely hold the possibility. As it is currently going, we don’t have long before the oceans will be too acidic for shellfish to survive.
The story
https://crosscut.com/2018/10/can-these-super-oysters-survive-our-screwed-oceans
The video
Filed under: Aquaculture, ocean acidification, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Tagged: ocean acidification, Oysters, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Video on NOAA work to breed oysters resistant to ocean acidification – Crosscut & PBS
Sobering news from north of the border.
Reports that sea stars may be recovering after a massive die-off four years ago may be premature, experts say. “We want simple solutions. People see a few of them, and they assume they’re back,” said Port McNeill diver and scientist Jackie Hildering. “But they’re not.” While the number of ochre stars is reportedly on the rise, the iconic sunflower star remains elusive on the B.C. coast. “There is very little evidence of recovery (among sunflower stars),” confirmed Peter Raimondi, marine ecologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Tracking the wasting disease that killed millions of sea stars from Alaska to Baja California in 2013 and 2014 is difficult because so little work has been done on the species. It is unclear how many sea stars melted away during the outbreak — and how many are left. Glenda Luymes reports. (Vancouver Sun)
Filed under: Puget Sound, Sea Life, Shellfish | Tagged: Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Sunflower sea stars remain hard to find in B.C. waters four years after massive die-off – Vancouver Sun
Governor Inslee moves forward on more aquaculture support without spending any more money. Locally, we support the efforts to restore Olympia Oysters, and the Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee is doing so in Discovery Bay. The MRC also support a variety of shellfish growers, and are happy that the Tribes are able to make good money selling Geoducks to China.
However, the article is accurate in that environmentalists and shoreline homeowners are very concerned over the State’s willingness to turn entire bays in the South Sound into shellfish farms, despite the fact that these beds are on beaches right in front of homes and will never really be allowed to go back to a natural state, if that’s even possible. It is important to understand that aquaculture rights were established as a priority of shoreline land use when the State was founded. The shellfish industry has legal right to harvest on almost all shores below extreme low tide, based on a reading of state statute RCW 79.96.010 (of course the State leases the land first), and seems willing to take as much as it can to do so, regardless of the opinions of the homeowners who’s “backyard” they are farming, or concerns of environmentalists. (this is a clarification of an earlier version of this article)
The harvesting often is late at night in the winter, and noisy enough to disrupt homeowners. Large scale netting of the beach to protect the shellfish from predators leads to birds being caught in nets, and the inability of shoreline homeowners to use their beaches. Real estate agents rarely seem to warn prospective buyers of the issue. Lawsuits to reign in the growers expansion seem to be rarely successful. The industry is heavily regulated, and the growers need to get a variety of permits to set up a farm. Some recent Shoreline Master Plans have attempted to put some limits on shellfish growers, with little success.
Gov. Jay Inslee on Friday renewed the state’s commitment to protecting Washington’s lucrative shellfish resources. Inslee joined federal, tribal and other leaders at the National Fish & Oyster Co. in Olympia to launch the second phase of the Washington Shellfish Initiative, which former Gov. Chris Gregoire initiated in 2011. The state, working with many partners including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, will take new steps to improve water quality, restore native shellfish such as Olympia oysters, improve the permitting process for shellfish-growers and promote ways to address how ocean acidification is affecting shellfish. Phuong Le reports. (Associated Press)
http://www.kirotv.com/ap/ap/washington/washington-noaa-launch-next-step-of-shellfish-init/np6H6/
Filed under: Puget Sound, Shellfish | Tagged: Oysters, Puget Sound, Shellfish | 1 Comment »
More on the emerging ocean acidification issues of aquaculture.
Rob Saunders points a flashlight into the depths of an immense plastic tank at his hatchery, illuminating millions of scallop larvae as tiny as dust particles. “Think of these as canaries in a coal mine,” says the marine biologist turned embattled shellfish farming CEO. It is here at Island Scallops’ facility in Qualicum Beach, located just inland from British Columbia’s shellfish farming epicentre of Baynes Sound, that ocean acidification wreaked havoc. Beginning in 2011, the company’s scallop brood stock (adult shellfish bred over 25 years to be disease-resistant and exceptionally meaty), began to die. Christopher Pollon reports. (The Tyee)
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/19/climate-change-scallops_n_8597502.html
Filed under: Aquaculture | Tagged: aquaculture, Canada, climate change, ocean acidifcation, Shellfish | Comments Off on The B.C. Scallop Farmer’s Acid Test – The Tyee
I missed this story. More good news from DNR, Taylor Shellfish and the Northwest Watershed Institute. Moving forward on protecting shorelines that are key to aquaculture from development. We need cooperative agreements where the habitat calls for it.
On Sept. 17, Taylor Shellfish Farms sold four undeveloped shoreline parcels, totaling 15 acres, to the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for preservation as part of the Dabob Bay Natural Area, according to a press release.
Filed under: Shellfish | Tagged: dabob bay, DNR, Hood Canal, Shellfish, Taylor Shellfish | Comments Off on DNR buys lands around Taylor Shellfish hatchery for long-term conservation – PT Leader
Warning for those of you going out to do some shellfish gathering.
…. The Department of Health found high levels of the marine biotoxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning in Hood Canal early this summer, leading the state to close several beaches in Jefferson and Mason counties to shellfish harvest, many for the first time. Aria Shephard Bull reports. (Kitsap Sun)
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/biotoxin-infesting-part-of-hood-canal-usually-free-of-it_77950401
See also: More shellfish harvest closures in effect in Clallam County; shut areas stretch from Cape Flattery to Jefferson line http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150816/NEWS/308169987/more-shellfish-harvest-closures-in-effect-in-clallam-county-shut (Peninsula Daily News)
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: biotoxin, hood canal, Jefferson County, mason county, paralytic shellfish poisoning, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Biotoxin infesting part of Hood Canal usually free of it – PDN
This article swings around from India to Puget Sound, it’s a bit all over the map, literally. But take it as you read it. I think that the point is that continued algal blooms are increasing the incident of red tide, and that if this continues it may be harder and harder to grow shellfish for the size of the commercial markets.
New research suggests that climate change could cause massive poisonous algae blooms, depleting already limited shellfishing industries. Could the solution be something as simple as seagrass? Joseph Dussault reports. (Christian Science Monitor)
http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0706/How-algae-blooms-could-take-mussels-off-the-menu
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on How algae blooms could take mussels off the menu – Christian Science Monitor
More news on the science coming in that definitively is pointing to Ocean Acidification being the culprit in hatchery mortality rates here.
The mortality of larval Pacific oysters in Northwest hatcheries has been linked to ocean acidification. Yet the rate of increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the decrease of pH in near-shore waters have been questioned as being severe enough to cause the die-offs. Now, a new study of Pacific oyster and Mediterranean mussel larvae found that the earliest larval stages are sensitive to saturation state, rather than carbon dioxide (CO2) or pH (acidity) per se. Saturation state is a measure of how corrosive seawater is to the calcium carbonate shells made by bivalve larvae, and how easy it is for larvae to produce their shells. A lower saturation rate is associated with more corrosive seawater. Cheryl Dybas reports. (PHYS.ORG)
http://phys.org/news/2014-12-ocean-acidification-culprit-commercial-shellfish.html
And this article follows on it.
http://phys.org/news/2014-11-tool-west-coast-ocean-acidification.html#inlRlv
For those wanting to understand the science behind “saturation state” you can find the definition down this page. Just “find” saturation state when you get to it. The formula is there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_acidification
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: hatcheries, ocean acidification, oysters, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Ocean acidification a culprit in commercial shellfish hatcheries’ failures – phsy.org
Oops. Apparently a leaking septic system was to blame. This affects a wide range of fresh oysters in many states. Read the article for more information. Environmental organizations have pushed for well over a decade to get counties to force mandatory inspections of septic systems. However, public outcry against doing it, especially in counties like Mason, have forced voluntary programs. And this is the kind of outcome that happens. Haven been made sick from oysters myself, I can tell you it isn’t fun. I spent almost a week in bed once from the experience, and really felt like I was dying.
Washington state health officials have ordered an emergency harvest closure and a multistate recall of all shellfish from a portion of Mason County’s Hammersley Inlet after at least a dozen people who ate raw oysters became ill. (Seattle Times)
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025219127_shellfishrecallxml.html
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Hammersley Inlet, hood canal, Norovirus, oysters, Puget Sound, Recall, Shellfish | Comments Off on Raw oysters sicken 12, prompt shellfish harvest closure and recall – Seattle Times
It’s always been a question mark in my mind, about how much of the bad stuff in the Sound are we eating with our delicious meals of shellfish. Now we know. And it’s a good word of caution that if you are regularly eating shellfish, that buying them from growers who are away from urban environments, or harvesting them yourself in remote places, is the best rule of thumb. And it also gives us a very easy way to measure the recovery efforts at work. The bad news is that PCBs, long banned, continue to be found in the water, as do flame retardants. Both are cancer causing. It points out that storm water runoff and our crazy notion that we can pour our sewage into our Sound, have consequences for us.
Scientists used shellfish to conduct the broadest study to date of pollution levels along the shore of Puget Sound. And in some places, it’s pretty contaminated. This past winter the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife put mussels at more than 100 sites up and down Puget Sound. After a few months, volunteers and WDFW employees gathered the shellfish and analyzed them for metals, fossil fuel pollution, flame-retardants and other chemicals. The WDFW just released the results. [http://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/01643/] Ashley Ahearn reports. (EarthFix)
http://earthfix.kcts9.org/water/article/shellfish-tell-puget-sounds-polluted-tale/
Filed under: Shellfish | Tagged: Pollution, Salish Sea, Shellfish, Water Pollution, WDFW | Comments Off on Shellfish Tell Puget Sound’s Polluted Tale – Earthfix
The State Dept of Health have a new interactive map you can use on your smartphone or tablet when in the field. Want to know if the beach you are clamming on is safe? Try this. https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/eh/maps/biotoxin/biotoxin.html
https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/eh/maps/biotoxin/biotoxin.html
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Shellfish | Comments Off on Washington Dept of Health Post New Recreational Shellfish Safety App
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/pdfs/PVC_RCRA.pdf
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: epa, geoduck, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Petition for Action Targets Shellfish Farm Operations
This is about us, now. The impact of ocean acidification on our shellfish industry. Today. A great short film by students at the University of Oregon. Watch it.
This piece explores the effects of ocean acidification because of pollution from CO2 from the point of view of Oregon’s oyster farmers. The state of our ocean’s water quality is changing at a rate that can not be ignored.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: ocean acidification, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on A short film about the shellfish industry
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2014/feb/10/health-risks-estimated-for-port-gamble-bay/#axzz2szYnGC6a (subscription)
Chris Dunagan of the Kitsap Sun reports in this subscription only article about the risks of consuming significant quantities of shellfish from Port Gamble Bay.
According to the story,
Out of every 1,000 people who eat 1.1 pounds of clams, oysters and crabs every day over a lifetime, two people could be expected to get cancer because of those shellfish… which focuses on shellfish taken from the upper portion of Port Gamble Bay….
There’s lots more to the article. Read it at the Kitsap Sun link above.
Filed under: Puget Sound | Tagged: Port Gamble Bay, Puget Sound, Shellfish | Comments Off on Health risks estimated for Port Gamble Bay shellfish – Kitsap Sun
