“Rising Red Tide Concerns”
The first red tide closure of the season hit the Maine coast in late March, halting the harvest of some species of shellfish from Harpswell to the New Hampshire border. This unexpected closure, about a month earlier than usual, seems to confirm the warnings of marine resource officials that 2010 may be an especially difficult year for our shellfish industry.
The reasons for the dire predictions are the very high concentrations of the cysts of the algae that cause red tide following the severe outbreak last year. That was one of the worst outbreaks in decades and closed 98 percent of Maine's shellfish beds. Scientists say the early outbreak this year is caused by unusually warm early spring weather and strong northeast winds that pushed the algae into shellfish beds.
While the algae itself is not harmful to humans, the consumption of shellfish taken from contaminated waters can cause illness and even death. We are fortunate to have a robust state and federal system in place to monitor shellfish beds for the algae and to test shellfish for safety. This is important both to protect consumers from potential harm, and to give them confidence that shellfish harvested from uncontaminated beds are safe to eat.
This confidence is essential because the stakes are high. The shellfish industry is vital to Maine's economy, with more than 3,000 harvesters and dealers depending upon healthy shellfish beds to support their families and their communities. Maine's Department of Marine Resources estimates the total annual economic value of this industry to our state at $50 million.
Last year, as in the severe red tide years of 2005 and 2008, I joined my Maine colleagues in Congress to support the Governor's request for federal disaster relief funds so that a seasonal outbreak does not cause irreparable harm to this important industry. In addition, last fall, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I worked to secure $2 million in federal assistance to help mitigate the financial hardship caused by the 2009 closures.
But monitoring shellfish beds, keeping the public informed, and helping harvesters through tough times are only part of the challenge. We must do more to understand, and ultimately control, the naturally occurring toxins that threaten coastal marine life and industries.
That is why I am a co-sponsor of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act. This legislation builds upon the research programs established in the Harmful Algal Blooms Research and Control Act of 1998 and expanded in 2004. The new bill focuses not only on increasing our understanding of the causes of algal blooms, but also on how they can be reduced in intensity or even prevented.
In the Gulf of Maine there have been significant closures of shellfish beds from Massachusetts north to the Canadian border. Nationwide, red tide has caused staggering economic losses along both coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. This legislation would create a regional approach to both research and responses to outbreaks. This would help state and local governments prepare for the impacts of outbreaks and to mitigate the consequences for harvesters and the public.
Last year, red tide shut down nearly the entire Maine coast to shellfish harvesting for almost a month. While the cost of this disaster is still being calculated, it lasted longer and covered a wider geographic area than the closure of 2005, which resulted in lost income in excess of $23 million. This legislation is an important step in addressing the impacts of red tide and other toxins in coastal communities here in Maine and throughout the country.
