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Pollution shuts down shellfish industry
NB.CBC.CA
19th March 2004
Pollution has shutdown this season's oyster and mussel fishery in the Bouctouche Bay, ruining this season for about a dozen farmers who make a living from the shellfish in the water.
The odds seem stacked against Bouctouche's oyster farmers this winter. The fishery was shut down before the ice even melted from the bay.
Serge LeBlanc is a member of the Bouctouche Oyster Co-op, and says this is the first time the fishery was closed before it even opened. "I'm not sure how we're going to proceed to fix the problem, but things need to be done."
It's typical for faecal coliform to shut down the fishery for a few days every season.
Scientists with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency monitor the Bouctouche Bay shellfish regularly for problems. In January, they tested the meat from mussels and found it unfit for human consumption.
The agency's Jean Gauvin says the results were clear. "The level of faecal coliform was unacceptable, were twice the acceptable limit, therefore, we couldn't recommended opening the zone."
Oysters don't feed this time of year, so they are not contaminated. But scientists were concerned that mussels would accidentally be caught while harvesting oysters, and shut that fishery down too.
No one is certain of the source of the pollution. But some in the oyster business suspect Bouctouche's water and sewage treatment plant is to blame.
Environment Canada tested the water around the plant, and found startling results.
Microbiologist Bernard Richard says the samples were heavily polluted. "We found that the effluent, the final effluent coming off the lagoon, after treatment, we found counts that were significantly higher than normal. Fourteen times the federal guideline."
Richard says the acceptable guideline is 400 faecal coliforms per 100 ml of effluent. The count around the sewage lagoon was 300,000.
Town officials say they aren't responsible for the fishery closure, but admit they have been tinkering with the treatment plant.
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