TITLE: PIERCE COUNTY BEACHES CLOSED TO SHELLFISH GATHERING / AREAS SOUTH OF TACOMA NARROWS TAINTED BY TOXIN-PRODUCING PLANKTON

BYLINE: Sandi Doughton; The News Tribune

EST. PAGES: 1

DATE: 12/04/97

DOCID: TCMA235013

SOURCE: The News Tribune Tacoma, WA; TCMA

SECTION: Local/State; PAGE: B2

(Copyright 1997)

The state Health Department has closed all Pierce County beaches south o f the Tacoma Narrows to recreational shellfish gathering because of dangerous levels of the plankton that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning. Paralytic shellfish poisoning is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by eating clams or other shellfish contaminated with a toxin produced by the plankton.

The plankton is also sometimes called red tide. But despite the name, contaminated water rarely turns red, said Ray Hanowell of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. "Generally, you can't see it in the water at all," he said. It's also impossible to detect the plankton or toxin in shellfish without laboratory tests.

Clams, mussels and other bivalves concentrate the plankton - and its toxin - in their bodies as they feed by filtering tiny creatures from the water around them. Once inside the shellfish, the toxin can't be destroyed by cooking or freezing.

The state started closing down Pierce County beaches early last month, when the plankton were first detected in Case Inlet. Since then, the problem has been steadily expanding to other areas.

"It's getting worse," Hanowell said.

He believes the recent mild weather may be to blame.

Usually, rain and winds agitate the water in South Puget Sound, disrupting growth of the plankton - microscopic creatures that are a cross between plants and animals. "The calm, dry weather may be helping them grow," Hanowell said.

Once rare in Puget Sound, the plankton that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning has been spreading and increasing in frequency over the past two decades. Some scientists blame water pollution, while others suspect changing climate patterns or international shipping, which carries hitchhiking organisms around the globe.

Among the Pierce County beaches that are currently closed to shellfish gathering are: Case and Carr inlets; Filucy Bay; the recreational beach at Vaughn Bay Sandspit; Joemma Beach; Taylor Bay; Anderson Island; Purdy Sandspit; Fox Island Bridge; and the beach south of Gordon Point.

For up-to-date information on shellfish closures, call either the state Health Department hot line at 1-800-562-5632 or the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department at 253-798-2845.

OTHER TERMS: Environmental concern, Contamination, Shellfish, Hazardous, Pierce County