PORT TOWNSEND – The state Department of Health has closed beaches in Admiralty Inlet, Kilisut Harbor and Mystery Bay to recreational shellfish harvesting, after high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning — or red tide — were detected in samples taken at Fort Flagler.
Closures of some commercial shellfish operations are likely to follow in the next few days, said state marine biotoxin coordinator Frank Cox, who is collecting samples from commercial facilities near the affected areas.
Commercial shellfish purchased through legal channels is perfectly safe, said Dr. Tom Locke, public health officer for Clallam and Jefferson counties, because it is rigorously tested.
Tuesday’s closures illustrate the spread on the North Olympic Peninsula of what Locke called “one of the highest red tide blooms that we’ve seen in a decade.”
High levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, prompted closures of beaches on the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Neah Bay to Discovery Bay — including a commercial tract near Jamestown — in mid-June.
The marine toxin can cause illness or death if ingested in either cooked or uncooked shellfish.
Newest closures
The new specific closure areas extend from North Beach County Park in Port Townsend to the south end of Marrowstone Island at Liplip Point.
The state closes beaches to recreational shellfish harvesting when the marine toxin level reaches 80 micrograms per 100 grams of shellfish tissue.
Toxin levels of 154 micrograms were detected in mussel pot samples from Fort Flagler.
“Mussels are our early warning system,” Cox said. “If they have high levels, the clams and oysters will follow.”
Shellfish harvesting closures include clams, oysters, mussels, scallops and other species of molluscan shellfish.
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.
A second closure was put into effect on Middle Ground Island near Sequim when 107 micrograms of toxin were detected in a clam sample.
Extremely high levels
Locke said Tuesday that samples taken on the Peninsula showed “extremely high levels” of biotoxins in shellfish.
“Since the levels have been so high all around the Puget Sound, same with the Strait, you have to assume the worst with this — that the highest samples we see are representative of what’s going on,” Locke said.
Locke said there have been two red tide-related deaths in Alaska but none in Washington state where, according to Cox, the last deaths were in 1942 when three Lower Elwha Klallam tribal members died after eating poisoned butter clams and mussels.
Cooking contaminated shellfish won’t help.
“The saxitoxin is highly stable,” Locke said. ‘There is really no practical way to deactivate it.”
Nor is there an antidote. The toxin paralyzes breathing muscles. The only treatment is a mechanical respirator.
“The butter clams, they hang on to it for an unusual amount of time,” Locke added.
“They will likely be contaminated for months, possibly a year after this is all over.”
He said other shellfish purge the toxin fairly quickly.
How long will the red tide last?
“It’s really unpredictable at this point,” Locke said. “My guess is we’ll be looking at this for months. It will persist through the summer months at a minimum.”
Testing
Shellfish is tested weekly, and two safe tests are required before an alert is lifted, according to Alison Petty of the Jefferson County Department of Environmental Health.
Recreational shellfish harvesters should check the state health department website at www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/sf/biotoxin.htm or phone the health department’s biotoxin hot line at 800-562-5632 before harvesting shellfish anywhere in the state.
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Jefferson County reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
