TITLE: Fish Pfiesteria Creates Unwarranted Fears; Seafood Industry Asks Governors to Calm Consumers' Concerns
EST. PAGES: 3
DATE: 09/19/97; 14:48:56
SOURCE: PRNewswire; PRNS
ORIGIN: Virginia, Maryland
CONTACT: Emily Holt or Pam Glass of the National Fisheries Institute,703-524-8881
(Copyright 1997)
ARLINGTON, Va. /PRNewswire/ --The National FisheriesInstitute
today asked the governors of six Mid-Atlantic states to assure
a jittery public that seafood products from the region have not
been tainted by the Pfiesteria outbreak and are safe to eat.
NFI made the request in a letter sent Friday to the governors
of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Delaware, Pennsylvania
and West Virginia as they met at a summit in Annapolis, Md. to
discuss their response to a naturally- occurring microorganism
that is blamed for killing thousands of fish in East Coast waterways.
The mid-Atlantic seafood industry has been hit hard by the
outbreak, with seafood sales reported to be off as much as 60
percent in some areas. Industry leaders say that negative publicity
has scared consumers away from commercial seafood products that
are safe and wholesome.
Conflicting reports about the disease "have created a
widespread, unwarranted consumer food scare," said Lee J.
Weddig, NFI's executive vice president. "Consumers are questioning
the safety of virtually all seafood even deep-water, oceanic species
which never come near the Chesapeake."
Weddig urged the governors and their state health departments
to be more aggressive in assuring consumers that seafood available
on the marketplace is safe. "The fact that Pfiesteria outbreaks
have not affected the safety of food fish and shellfish needs
to be communicated by state health officials often enough, through
every avenue possible, to overcome consumers' fear of the unknown,"
he said. "Consumers need to know that the affected fish species,
menhaden, are not marketed as human food."
Scientists and Maryland and Virginia state officials say that
the most popular seafood from the Chesapeake Bay - rockfish, (striped
bass), croaker, spot, oysters and blue crabs - are safe to eat
and contain no traces of Pfiesteria.
Officials say that the outbreak has stricken thousands of menhaden
which are small fish that are too bony and oily to be sold on
the retail market. Menhaden are used primarily as fish bait and
fertilizer.
Experts contacted by NFI say the presence of the Pfiesteria-like
organisms in estuaries of the Bay has no effect on fish caught
elsewhere. People need not be apprehensive about eating fish taken
from the Atlantic or other U.S. oceans, raised in fish farms or
caught overseas and imported into the United States. The organism
has been found in a few isolated inshore areas along the East
Coast, and to a lesser extent in the Gulf. The most recent outbreaks
have occurred in Maryland and Virginia. North Carolina and Delaware
have also experienced blooms of the microbe in recent years.
"These are natural occurrences that have been going on
for centuries," confirmed Dr. David Green, a researcher at
North Carolina State University. "There is no direct link
to the consumption of seafood whatsoever."
Here's why experts say there is little risk that consumers
can become ill from eating fresh seafood:
-- Pfiesteria is not an infectious or contagious disease --
it can not be caught like a cold. There is no evidence that it
can be passed along in the food chain, or passed from fish to
human. It is not a bacteria or a virus, but rather a natural organism
that is a member of the algae family. It is part of a class of
organisms that can also cause red and brown tides and can assume
24 different forms in a lifetime.
Under the right conditions (warm, calm, shallow waters mixed with
plenty of nitrogen and phosphorus), it releases toxins that invade
a fish's skin, causing lesions, disorientation and eventually
death. Once the poison is released, it only lasts for a short
time, becoming diluted in the water and eventually ineffective.
The organism and others like it have been around for centuries.
-- The fish most affected are inedible menhaden that are not sold
in local grocery stores or restaurants. It is a small, oily fish
that is processed into bait and meal for animal feed.
-- No cases of seafood poisoning have been reported from eating
fish exposed to Pfiesteria. Nor has there been evidence of tainted
shellfish, oysters or crabs on the market.
-- The toxic reactions to fish are confined to only a small
area of inland estuaries, usually from late summer until early
November. These contain the two main ingredients for a toxic bloom:
estuaries are rich in the nutrients that the organisms thrive
on and are break point where salt and fresh water meet. "There
is only a limited, narrow band where these conditions occur,"
says David Green, a seafood technology specialist at North Carolina
State University, who has studied the organism. The blooms would
not be found in fresh water ponds or bays, or in open ocean.
-- Seafood on the market primarily comes from deep ocean waters
and aquaculture. Only a minute amount would have come from the
affected area, which have been closed to commercial fishing.
-- Evidence so far shows that people are exposed to the organism's toxins
only by swallowing, touching or breathing the mists from tainted
waters.
-- State governments in the mid-Atlantic have already taken
steps to limit the public's exposure to the organism, and teams
of scientists and doctors are investigating the outbreak.
Maryland closed three Chesapeake Bay tributaries indefinitely
to fishing, crabbing and recreation. Virginia continues to monitor
the situation, and has closed its portion of the Pocomoke River.
Officials say there have been similar problems with fish in the
Rappahannock River since 1984, but have not seen any harmful effects
on people. Both states inspect for the wholesomeness of fish and
shellfish before it reaches market by monitoring and testing the
water and seafood and inspecting processing plants.
Here's what consumers can do to make sure they are purchasing
wholesome fish:
-- look for bright, clear eyes, scales that cling tightly to
the skin, unscared skin that springs back to the touch, bright
pink or red gills and a mild -- not strong -- sea breeze odor.
-- At the market, make sure cooked seafood products aren't
in contact with raw seafood in the same case.
-- Know your fishmonger; only buy products from reputable dealers.
-- Cook fish thoroughly to an internal temperature of 145 degrees
F.
-- When in doubt, throw it out!
For further information, contact:
-- Shirley Estes, executive director, Virginia Marine Products
Board: 757-874-3474.
-- Maryland Department of Agriculture's Seafood Marketing Program,
410-841-5820. (for information on Maryland seafood safety)
-- David Green, Seafood Specialist, North Carolina State University:
919-726-7341. (for scientific information on Pfiesteria)
-- Maryland Department of the Environment: 800-633-6101 x 3906;
(for health related issues) or the Maryland hotline to report
fish with lesions: 1-888-584-3110.
-- North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services:
919-715-4174 (all inquiries); or the North Carolina Rapid Response
Action Team (to report fish kills): 888-764-7661.
The National Fisheries Institute is a non-profit trade association
representing more than 1,000 companies involved in all aspects
of the fish and seafood industry. The Institute acts to ensure
an ample, sustainable and safe seafood supply for consumers.
The commercial seafood industry directly employs more than
250,000 people and contributes nearly $40 billion to the economy
which includes $26.2 billion in expenditures at foodservice establishments
and $12 billion at the retail level.
SOURCE National Fisheries Institute
REGION: NME VA US MD; NORTH AMERICA ; VIRGINIA ; UNITED STATES ; MARYLAND
ORGANIZATION: National Fisheries Institute