Ian’s rain sparks temporary shellfish harvest ban

by Tom Chillemi –

On Monday, Oct. 3, the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) issued an emergency regulation closing all Virginia portions of the middle and southern Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries to shellfish harvesting. This included areas of the Middle Peninsula and Middlesex County.

However, on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 4, the emergency closure was significantly modified by the VDH.

Hurricane

After Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida and the Carolinas, its remnants brought heavy rains, winds and flooding to the Mid Atlantic and risk of waterborne contaminants, said Director Danielle Schools of the Division of Shellfish Safety and Water Borne Hazards, VDH Office of Environmental Health Services.

Contaminants

The closure was to protect public health, Schools added.

“While these hazards may not harm the shellfish, they can accumulate and persist in the shellfish meat faster than they are excreted and may cause illness if shellfish is consumed raw or undercooked,” said Schools.

Schools explained that although the water may clear up in a relatively short time, “the shellfish have taken up the contamination into the meat and that takes longer to purge.”

Timeline

The Department of Shellfish Sanitation (DSS) will continue to coordinate with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and Emergency Management to monitor for sewage spills and other pollution events reported throughout the coastal watersheds and work closely with local health districts and regional utilities.