A large red tide outbreak has already been predicted for this summer. This is bad news for shellfish harvesters, dealers and the restaurants that depend on clams and mussels for their livelihoods. Since the toxic algae can’t be stopped, pinpointed closures and additional research could help ease the economic consequences.
A bill, supported by Reps. Mike Michaud and Chellie Pingree, passed by the U.S. House last week should also help. Sen. Olympia Snowe is the author of a similar bill pending in the Senate.
Based on surveys of the ocean bottom in the fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last week warned that an extensive red tide outbreak was expected this spring and summer, potentially putting hundreds of miles of clam flats off limits to harvesting.
Last year’s outbreak was so extensive due to a variety of weather-related consequences. Early summer’s overcast weather allowed red tide algae to grow rapidly. Winds from the east and northeast then pushed the bloom toward shore.
As a result, the Department of Marine Resources closed nearly the entire coast to harvesting for weeks.
Red tide is caused by naturally occurring algae that produce a toxin that shellfish absorb as they feed. Red tide taints clams and mussels, making them unsafe for people to eat, but poses no risk to people who eat fish, lobster, scallops and shrimp. Officials stress that clams and mussels on the market are safe, given the regulatory safeguards in place.
Red tide outbreaks have occurred periodically for decades, but some of the worst have occurred in the past five years.
A study by Kevin Athearn, associate professor of natural resource economics at the University of Maine at Machias, concluded in 2005 that a statewide, one-week August closure for soft-shell clams, mahogany quahogs and mussels would result in an estimated loss of $1.2 million in harvester sales and a total economic loss of $2.9 million for Maine’s economy.
The losses for last summer were estimated to be $10 million by the Department of Marine Resources.
Because of the economic consequences, Maine regulators have worked to gather better data about where outbreaks are occurring. This has allowed them to better pinpoint areas that must be closed to harvesting. In recent years, entire bays were put off limits. Now, smaller areas can be closed, eas-ing the burden on harvesters and others.
The federal legislation calls for a national algal bloom research and response program and provides $41 million for this effort. A first step would be to identify regional research priorities focused on the economic and social impacts of outbreaks. In a large step forward, it would fund research and development of new technologies to minimize the occurrence and duration of blooms.
This would be a big advancement beyond the current closure and advisory system, which, along with a stringent state testing program, protects humans from poisoning but leaves harvesters and others to deal with the economic consequences.
Red tide and the associated problem of hypoxia — areas of the ocean and fresh water with severely depleted oxygen levels — won’t soon be eradicated. But, developing regional and national plans to minimize their consequences is a help.