Clam diggers are seeking other means of income since the closures of the state’s mud flats have shut the industry down. The statewide flood closure briefly lifted in some places, however, an unprecedented flood of red tide has once again crippled the industry, shutting down nearly the entire Maine coast.
While many diggers are in a bind as to where to turn for income, some are seeking employment in other trades, according to one Lincoln County clam dealer. Jerry “Mike” Brunick of Mike’s Seafood in Waldoboro, said the clam diggers he deals with on a daily basis are calling him regularly. Some, he said, are asking for money.
Brunick checks the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources website (www.maine.gov/dmr) and the red tide hotline (800-232-4733 or 633-9571) constantly to see if any flats have opened up.
“I haven’t worked in six weeks,” Brunick said, adding that he had hoped the disastrous conditions of the shellfish industry would prompt a response from Gov. John Baldacci.
Brunick wouldn’t specify how much he has lost in the clamming industry standstill, but said it has been a lot.
“If we don’t open up (shellfish harvesting areas) in the next month I will probably shut my doors,” Brunick said. “I just want to know how long we’re going to be out of work before it’s called a disaster.”
According to a report from Darcie Couture, director of the Biotoxin Monitoring Program at the Maine Dept. of Marine Resources in Boothbay Harbor, this is a record year for the state, exceeding the extreme red tide event of 2005. Scientists are testing coastal shellfish harvesting areas for red tide and land-based pollution due to heavy rainfall.
According to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute website (www.whoi.edu), red tide is an algae that produces a toxin which clams, mussels, and other shellfish filter through their systems and causes Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in people who eat the shellfish. Certain oceanic conditions are ripe for red tide and the toxin moves up and down the coast with shifts in wind and tide, making it difficult for anyone to pinpoint as to where it will land or how long it will stick around.
Couture reported red tide hitting areas once considered immune to the toxin and in high numbers. The PSP monitoring staff at the DMR are working overtime in conjunction with other staff members who are testing floodwater pollution levels in shellfish harvest areas.
“We’re still running on the heels of red tide, throwing up closures so fast that we’ve even had to change the closure lines in the same area twice in one day,” Couture wrote in a July 10 letter. “The coast of Maine is basically one large red tide closure.”
Areas not affected by red tide have been under a flood closure, where the rain has been so heavy and the risk of land-based contamination, such as farm and sewer pollution, run high.
“We have definitely exceeded, in many ways, the extreme red tide event of 2005,” Couture said. “This year we are setting new records.”
In June 2005, Gov. Baldacci declared a state of emergency for Maine’s shellfish industry, directing his office and DMR Commissioner George Lapointe to meet with other New England states affected by the closures to pool resources and knowledge. The governor additionally requested the federal Small Business Administration step in to assist businesses affected by red tide.
According to DMR deputy commissioner David Etnier, the difference between the red tide event in 2005 and the widespread red tide and flood closures of this season is that, so far, Maine is the only state affected and there is still some time left in this year’s peak season.
Red tide was particularly disastrous in 2005, because it spread throughout New England. Flats were closed along the coast of Massachusetts for the first time due to red tide. Etnier said the state sought support from the federal government with the backing of other New England states toward the end of the 2005 season, when the flood of red tide had done its damage for that year.
Even without that same scenario, the DMR is drafting a letter seeking emergency funding from the federal government to help sway the high costs the state has incurred from red tide and flood closures combined.
The letter, which Etnier believes the governor will sign and approve, is expected to go out to Congress this week.
“It’s not an overnight process,” Etnier said during a telephone interview, emphasizing the DMR must first draft the letter for Gov. Baldacci’s signature.
The DMR must compile severity impacts for both red tide and rainfall closures and the economic impact of those closures to date, for the appropriations committee. They also must show congressional delegations how much money the state has left. Etnier said it would likely take some time for Congress to respond with any solid commitments on funding.
The Maine Red Tide Disaster Relief program enacted by Congress in 2006 provided $2 million to industry needs at the time. Brunick of Mike’s Seafood said funding similar to what was distributed that year through the Small Business Administration would help businesses such as his, and the clam diggers, all weather the storm.
According to the DMR website, approximately $50,000 went to a study to determine whether wild caught PSP (paralytic shellfish poison) contaminated shellfish could be depurated (cleaned) effectively in a controlled environment. Federal funding also was used for a fine scale monitoring program, “responsible for more than 11,000 acres of clam flats staying open that would otherwise have been closed during the 2006 season.”
A red tide buoy monitoring system in place since the 2005 disaster has kept flats open that would have otherwise been closed according to Couture. Staff scientists are working with the buoy system, which allows for more specific closures.
Red tide closures in years past have been broad due to the fact that the program only had testing stations at key locations, such as on a point and there are only so many people to conduct the red tide testing, Couture said. Scientists working for the DMR can collect samples from 30-40 buoys by boat, where before they would only be able to collect 8-10 land-based samples.
“We will try to work with individuals and groups who may have some areas that could be opened up again,” Couture said, “but I would remind everyone that this is an unprecedented season, and I can’t promise that extra testing will help, until we start to see the tide turn.”
