China Lifts Geoduck Ban

Earthfix reports that after the United States agreed to more stringent testing for arsenic it will lift the ban on geoducks and other shellfish.
(see Earthfix for more)

China To Lift Ban On West Coast Shellfish

May 23, 2014 | OPB

China will lift its ban on imports of geoduck clams and other shellfish from the West Coast, according to a statement from Washington Congressman Derek Kilmer.

“The lifting of this ban is great news for shellfish growers and businesses in our region,” Kilmer said Friday in a statement. “China is a key export market for our region’s shellfish and this news means greater economic stability for the workers and families in our region.”

In December, China issued the first ever ban on all shipments of shellfish harvested on the coast from the waters of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California. That followed China’s determination that a shipment of geoduck clams from Washington showed unsafe levels of inorganic arsenic and another from Alaska showed similarly high levels of the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Chinese officials sent a letter Friday to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration advising the federal agency the ban would be lifted. The letter stated Chinese officials were satisfied with NOAA’s proposed plans for new monitoring and testing requirements for paralytic shellfish poisoning and inorganic arsenic, which would meet China’s food safety requirements.

China’s ban sparked questions over how shellfish should be inspected before export. The portions of the clam showing levels of the toxins beyond China’s standards are not typically eaten in the U.S. but are in China. The U.S. has no standards for arsenic in shellfish.

The ban also put a brief economic strain on a major Northwest industry. The shellfish industry is worth $270 million in Washington state. The U.S. exported $68 million worth of geoduck clams alone in 2012 — most of which came from Puget Sound. Nearly 90 percent of that went to China.

“I appreciate the hard work of the State Departments of Health and Natural Resources, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Foreign Agricultural Service and U.S. Trade Representative, for all they’ve done to respond to this case and for effectively communicating to our international trading partners that our seafood is safe and healthy for their consumers,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said. “I also want to thank the staff in my D.C. office for working diligently on bringing resolution to this issue.”

Despite the ban, Washington growers had been shipping shellfish to Asia, with the two main destinations being Hong Kong and Vietnam. NOAA officials will work with federal and state food safety and health officials and the shellfish industry to implement the new requirements, which must be done before trade with China can resume. China still plans to send a team of food safety officials to the U.S. this fall to further discuss the issue and evaluate U.S. monitoring and testing plans.

Geoduck Exports to Vietnam Skyrocket: Smart Marketing or a Back Door to China?

The Seattle Times has reported that geoduck exports to Vietnam have skyrocketed from 16,371 pounds in December, 2012 to 117,983 pounds in December of 2013, the month China banned importing of geoduck from Puget Sound due to elevated levels of arsenic. Department of Health testing confirmed the skin did have levels of arsenic above what China considers safe and China confirmed its citizens do consume the skin. The Chinese have since requested additional information on shellfish safety programs, leaving the ban in place.

Vietnam and Hong Kong: Smart marketing or a back door to China?
When China announced the ban  on Puget Sound's geoduck December 5 the amount imported  dropped from 385,802 pounds in December 2012 to 282,216 pounds in December of 2013 (January's export data will not be released until March 7). The Associated Press reported that the Suquamish Tribe has now brought back all of its divers with their product now being shipped to Hong Kong. Robin Jordan, marketing expert for the Suquamish Tribe owned Port Madison Enterprises, is reported to have responded "Where they go after that is uncertain."

Chinese to Audit Shellfish Testing and Informs NOAA Chinese Eat the Outer Skin/Gutball of Geoduck

[Update 2/1: EarthFix has posted the January 23 letter detailing the concerns China has over how testing of shellfish for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSP) and arsenic is implemented. Not mentioned but of probable concern is the Department of Health's reactive system to vibriosis which relies largely on the number of people contracting vibriosis from shellfish before an area is closed or shellfish are recalled. The bi-annual International Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) meeting through which the National Shellfish Sanitary Program (NSSP) is implemented ended January 31. It is through the policies developed at the ISSC meeting that each state creates its own safety and testing program. To date, heavy lobbying by the shellfish industry has helped to minimize oversight of shellfish safety. It can be expected there will be heavy lobbying by the Chinese to improve those policies.]

Ban On Importing Geoduck to Continue

Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish Next?

The Chinese have informed NOAA they wish to send a team to audit how shellfish are tested. In addition, in a letter dated January 23, they have also informed NOAA that Chinese consumers do in fact eat the skin and gutball of geoduck where elevated levels of arsenic were found. (Seattle Times, January 31, 2014)

All skin samples tested higher than .5ppm







EarthFix/Anthony Schick

As seen in the graph above from EarthFix, DOH testing of geoduck harvested from Poverty Bay showed levels of arsenic in the outer skin of all geoduck tested to be higher than the level Chinese consider safe (.5ppm). In some samples, levels over 3 times higher were detected in the skin. The response by DOH to these higher levels was to simply say to peel the skin off and do not eat it, something the Chinese have not found to be very comforting.

Dioxin levels found in various shellfish

harvested from Oakland Bay

(from Evaluation of Dioxins in Shellfish

from the Oakland Bay Site, July 27, 2010, p. 12)

 



Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish
Another area the Chinese may wish to focus their auditing efforts on is Oakland Bay's shellfish where DOH testing confirmed elevated levels of dioxins exist in Manila calms and oysters. There, testing for dioxins in shellfish was triggered when testing of deeper sediments confirmed elevated levels of dioxins and other chemicals existed. The resulting tests of shellfish showed average (mean) levels ranging from .11 ppt in Manila clams to .45 ppt in Kumo oysters. Why oysters were over 4 times higher was not addressed.

Is this really safe to eat?

DOH Analysis: Eat Manila Clams, Not Oysters
In the analysis performed on possible effects from dioxins, the Department of Health made an assumption that  heavy consumers of seafood have 50% of their diet consisting of Manila clams and 1% oysters and mussels. In other words, the shellfish with the highest levels of dioxins were minimized in their model. Test results under another scenario, where consumption was instead 50% Kumo oysters whose mean dioxin levels were four times higher than Manila clams were not performed, nor was a model tested using the highest levels of dioxins found, only the mean (average).

"Ingestion rates – This scenario assumed that manila clams from Oakland Bay are consumed 50% of the time from total seafood, and oysters and mussels from Oakland Bay are consumed 1% of the time from total seafood." (page 30)

Oakland Bay's Past not a Mystery
Unlike the tidelands of Poverty Bay, Oakland Bay's tidelands are clearly known to have risk. In fact, many of the tideland deeds in Oakland Bay contain a specific condition about past pollution, many reading:

"Releasing and discharging Rayonier Incorporated, its successors and assigns, from any and all claims or causes of action whether in law or equity, due to acts or operations preceding and including the date of release, it might have against Rayonier, incorporated, with respect to ... past maintenance and operation of a pulp mill and manufacturing plant."

Intensity of the Chinese audit is unknown
Shellfish growers in Oakland Bay were fully aware of the business risk they took on when they began growing shellfish in sediments which for decades had been impacted by industrial operation of a pulp mill. The Department of Health is aware of the elevated levels of dioxins in shellfish harvested from those tidelands. Whether the Chinese will be concerned over assumptions used in the model for testing and include shellfish from Oakland Bay in their audit remains to be seen.

 

 

DOH and 2009 Sediment Testing in Poverty Bay

The Chinese have stated geoduck shipments from the west coast contained elevated levels of Arsenic and paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. In the short term a significant number of employees have tragically had their Christmas plans disrupted. The geoduck industry is facing the first market collapse from which it may or may not recover. Agencies may have been able to prevent the current crisis had different decisions been made. Whether those decisions were influenced by the very industry now in crisis is an unanswered question.

1997 - Batelle's sediment study
In 1997 a study by Batelle/Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim showed elevated levels of Arsenic, Lead, Mercury, Cesium and Cadmium buried in deeper sediments between Maury Island and Federal Way, peaking at a depth near 2 feet. The Department of Health was made aware of this study as early as December 2, 2007. In an email discussing sediments and geoduck harvesting it was noted:

"In the study by Dr. Crecelius, one of the core samples (number 6) was taken off shore in the exact area of the Dumas Bay Geoducks studied.  The results indicated that at sediments above where Geoducks burrow (live), and through which they are extracted, are significantly higher concentrations of chemicals tested for (e.g., lead; arsenic; PCB; DDT).  These peak values were at sediment depths ranging from ~33cm to ~75cm.  Geoducks typically are at depths of ~90cm."

Arsenic in Puget Sound Sediments and Soils of Vashon and Maury Islands





[Update 12/20: DNR suspends harvesting in Poverty Bay's Redondo tract where Arsenic was detected by China. The Puyallup Tribe which had been harvesting in the area also agreed to suspend harvesting until further testing could be done.]

[Update 12/20: Point Reyes Light (PRL) in Marin County reports on the recreational shellfish harvesting ban in Tomales Bay, near Drakes Estero, due to a bloom of the algae causing PSP toxins in shellfish. Separate from the Chinese ban of west coast shellfish for Arsenic, California has banned recreational harvesting in the area for fear of shellfish poisoning. Of significance is the state noting: "It is the first time the toxin, which typically closes non-commercial harvest during summer months, has appeared in winter in the inner and middle sections of the bay." PRL also notes the California Department of Health saying there is no understanding of what causes the algal blooms and therefore no means of predicting the events.]

[Update 12/20: King TV also reported on the Vashon/Maury Islands' elevated levels of Arsenic and Lead in October. The broadcast can be seen by clicking here.]

 

"State begins wide soil cleanup effort"

(Vashon Maury Island Beachcomber, October 9,2013)

 

"...the state needs to do more soil sampling there

to better understand the extent of the contamination..."

 

Soils on parts of Vashon and Maury Islands

contaminated with Arsenic and Lead.

"Take it away and cover it up. It will be fine."

Area where past testing showed elevated levels

of Arsenic, Cadmium and Lead in

Puget Sound sediments and where

"geoduck of concern" came from.

 

Dig it up, take it away, put down more soil - good as new