Vol. 1, No. 3
Headline Back Issues
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Cleansing process rids clams of contamination Eliot, Maine - Contaminated clam flats aren't necessarily off limits to businesses with the technology to clean shellfish, like Spinney Creek Shellfish Company, which processes about 100 bushels (about 35 hectoliters) of clams daily. In a process called depuration, Spinney Creek bathes the clams in a continual flow of disinfected seawater, which the shellfish syphon for 48 hours, purging bacteria, viruses, and other harmful substances from their guts. The clams are tested for fecal coliform before going to market. Maine's Department of Marine Resources (DMR) classifies shellfish beds according to their water quality, closing grossly polluted areas or those threatened by a specific pollution source. Marginally polluted areas are classified as restricted, which means clams harvested there must be depurated. There are about 15 such sites in Maine. Flats that can be harvested only during certain times are conditionally opened, while clean areas are open year round. Spinney Creek is Maine's only depuration company, according to owner and general manager Thomas Howell, who said he contracts 30 to 40 shellfish harvesters and employs 10 to 15 plant workers. In addition to cleansing contaminated clams, the company also processes shellfish from "clean" flats to rid them of sand and grit. Only a handful of depuration plants operate in the Gulf of Maine, due to increasingly stringent regulations and less demand for the process, said Paul Anderson, DMR's Director of Public Health. "We've been enjoying environmental recovery in the last couple of decades - the consequence is that fewer areas need depuration," he observed. When a site's classification changes, that can affect business. In January, DMR reclassified closed clam flats in Ogunquit as "restricted," allowing Spinney Creek to harvest there for depuration. "In the interim we collected further data which, by late spring, gave me enough information to say the water quality problem only seems to exist in the summertime," said Anderson. In April, DMR conditionally approved the flats for harvesting between September 15 and May 15. The new classification allows the town to decide how many recreational, commercial, residential, and non-residential digging licenses to issue, although if the town issues any commercial licenses, at least 10 percent have to go to non-residents, Anderson said. Ogunquit granted 40 residential and 10 non-residential recreational licenses, and no commercial licenses. This pushed Spinney Creek out of the flats, which Howell claims can produce 3,000 bushels (1,057 hectoliters) of clams per year. He said the town's decision has cost Spinney Creek 30 percent of its business, and will keep half a million dollars out of the local economy while unharvested clams simply die off. But according to Ogunquit Town Manager Bruce Locke, the reason the flats are so laden with clams now is that they were closed for a long time. Recreational harvesting will permit a sustainable clam supply, he said, explaining, "What we had [years ago] was just recreational harvesting anyway - so it wasn't really a significant economic issue. It's a very limited area for digging and we just don't feel like there are enough clams out there to make it go commercial." |
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Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine