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Scare takes big bite out of clam sales

June 9, 2005
Cape Cod Times

By DOUG FRASER STAFF WRITER BREWSTER - After reading about red tide this week, vacationer Mary Bastiani of Reading called the Brewster Health Department.

Debbie Holbert, co-owner of Osterville Fish Too at Barnstable Harbor, batters whole-belly clams before deep frying them. (Staff photo by KEVIN MINGORA)

If her grandchildren swallowed some water while swimming in Cape Cod Bay, would the toxin from red tide cells hurt them in any way?

She was reassured by the town that it would cause them no harm because the toxins in the Alexandrium algae would have to be eaten in a concentrated form, as in affected shellfish. These toxins cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, a condition that varies from numbness to paralysis, and sometimes death.

Meanwhile, Bastiani's son-in-law David Archibald of Bronxville, N.Y., tucked into a seafood platter loaded with mussels and clams Tuesday. He did the same yesterday at JT's Seafood on Route 6A.

''I'm trusting that if they're serving it, it must be safe,'' he said.

While Archibald might be trusting, other people are shying away from shellfish, even though the state closes areas when red tide toxin levels are high enough to be harmful.

''Clam sales are way down,'' said Bud Noyes, owner of JT's. ''They're not buying them like they used to; people are afraid.''

Dealers and restaurants say they know exactly where shellfish come from, thanks to a state-mandated tracking system. And a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health says there have been no reports of paralytic shellfish poisoning from red tide.

Noyes' clams come from Canada, which has not been hit by the outbreak that has shut shellfish areas from Maine to Nantucket. Division of Marine Fisheries chief shellfish biologist Michael Hickey said yesterday that no additional areas had been closed, but that toxin levels in shellfish meats sampled in closed areas are still going up.

The state requires all shellfish to come with tags listing the shellfisherman, the dealer, and the place and date of harvest. Restaurants and retail fish markets have to keep the tags on file for 90 days. Massachusetts Environmental Police perform unannounced inspections of the tags and shellfish at seafood restaurants and fish markets.

''Without question, shellfish are tracked from the time they're dug out of the ground until they get to the plate,'' said Dave Delancey, head chef and owner of the Lobster Trap restaurant and fish market in Bourne.

But all those precautions have done little to soothe the fears of most customers.

For the past week and a half, every other person coming in was asking where the clams are from, and some don't even want to take a chance,'' Delancey said. ''I don't think they understand what strict regulations we're under. They think I go out back and dig them in a closed area.''

Fresh shellfish can be harvested and trucked from Canada within 24 hours in refrigerated trucks. Wholesalers said yesterday that prices on oysters, littlenecks, cherrystones and mussels have not gone up because they can be shipped easily from open areas.

''We move a lot of shellfish,'' said Laura Foley, of M.F. Foley Co. Inc. of New Bedford and Boston, one of the state's oldest and largest seafood wholesalers. There has been little or no drop-off in demand, Foley said.

But at the local level, Kurt Collias, who owns Cape Cod Clam and Seafood Co. in Chatham has seen a big drop-off, particularly in frying clams.

''I usually sell 30 gallons a week, and I'm down to five,'' he said.

Nick Nickerson, owner of Nickerson's Fish Market at the Chatham Fish Pier, is still able to offer Chatham steamers, littlenecks, mussels and oysters even though the town has been closed to all shellfishing for almost a week.

Nickerson recently sunk a 60-foot deep saltwater well that pumps ea water from under the cove's sandy bottom, where algae cannot go. Shellfish are kept in tanks refreshed by clean saltwater, allowing him to store a huge supply in advance of last week's closure.

''It's all certified red tide-free,'' he said.

Still, that assurance hasn't stopped the questions.

''I bet every other customer says, 'What's the story with the red tide?''' he said.

Doug Fraser can be reached at dfraser@capecodonline.com.

(Published: June 9, 2005)