TITLE: Pfiesteria hurts seafood business, too; Markets: Wholesalers and retailers reassure wary shoppers that their fish and crabs come from any place but the Pocomoke River.
BYLINE: Shanon D. Murray
CREDIT: SUN STAFF
EST. PAGES: 2
DATE: 08/16/97
DOCID: BSUN527769
SOURCE: The Baltimore Sun; BSUN
EDITION: FINAL; SECTION: NEWS; PAGE: 1A
(Copyright 1997 @ The Baltimore Sun Company)
The tide of devastation caused by the Pocomoke River fish
kills has washed ashore in the Baltimore area, where seafood wholesalers
and retailers said sales of fresh fish have dropped sharply because
of public distrust.
"It has been mentally exhausting trying to sell my product
to customers who say, `Nah, I think I'm going to leave seafood
alone for a while,' " said Patrick Welsh, whose father owns
the Reliant Fish Co., a seafood wholesaler in Jessup.
"We're hurt economically," Welsh said. "Our
business is off by at least 50 percent. Fresh fish, crab, shrimp.
It's impacted everything that begins with `sea' and ends with
`food.' "
At Baltimore-based Food King, seafood sales in the chain's
seven stores are off by about half.
Its Reisterstown Plaza store usually orders 1,500 pounds
of fresh fish on Fridays for sale during its typical weekend rush.
But yesterday the store ordered only 150 pounds, said Herbert
Beckenheimer, the chain's chief executive officer.
"People are scared to death," he said.
To try to reassure customers, Beckenheimer posted signs Thursday
near the entrance and seafood departments of his stores notifying
customers that the fresh fish was purchased in Virginia, the Carolinas,
New England, and areas of the Chesapeake Bay -- not the Pocomoke.
Other supermarket chains, such as Giant Food Inc., have begun
to do the same.
The situation has prompted the Maryland Department of Agriculture
to plan distribution of a fact sheet early next week reassuring
customers about the area's seafood.
"We will let people know that the rest of the Chesapeake
Bay is healthy and they don't have anything to worry about,"
said Bill Seiling, the department's chief of seafood marketing.
The Pocomoke River on the lower Eastern Shore is not a major
commercial harvesting area. Even if Pocomoke River fish were for
sale, Seiling added, cooking would kill the algae called Pfiesteria
piscicida, a toxic microorganism thought to be the cause of death
of Pocomoke fish found with lesions.
A 4.5-mile stretch of the river was closed to fishing, crabbing
and other recreational uses on Aug. 7 and reopened six days later.
State biologists are continuing to monitor the water quality in
the river.
Seiling said that seafood harvested in the larger network
of estuaries and bays that make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed
is safe.
While many seafood wholesalers and retailers are reporting
their sales down between 40 percent and 75 percent, the larger
supermarket chains say customers have made inquiries but are still
buying.
That's far from the case at the Broadway Fish Market in Fells
Point. "This fish scare has taken its toll on us," said
Laura Fertitta, who owns the market with her husband, Carmelo.
"People are also staying away from our crabs and shrimp."
"It's crazy because all you have to do is look at our
beautiful display and you can see that our fish is not sick,"
she said. "But you know what people are saying? They say
stuff like `Well, maybe these fish just swam through the Pocomoke.'
"Customers are getting ridiculous now," Fertitta
said.
At Waverly Crabs in Baltimore, customers are asking -- but
most are still buying. "Sales have dropped off, but they
aren't horrible," said Scott Schoenberger, the store manager.
"The first question everyone asks is where do we get our
crabs.
"Once we tell them North Carolina, they usually buy
from us," he said.
Yesterday, at the Food King on Wabash Avenue, Sandra Bolden
of Reisterstown was about to skip the seafood, declaring, "I
don't know. The fish is sick."
But upon closer inspection, she decided to buy some steak
fish and oyster trout.
"They look healthier this week," she said. "I
just think it's important to be cautious."
Pub Date: 8/16/97