The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), in consultation with
the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and the
Department of Public Health (DPH) is lifted the fishing seasons
suspension as of 3 p.m. (PST) Thursday, November 29, 2007. This action
is based on the determination by OEHHA, in consultation with DPH, that
there is no significant human health risk posed from human consumption
of fish, crab and mussels (with exceptions noted below) caught in the
area impacted by the COSCO BUSAN oil spill (Spill).
The recreational and commercial fishery closure that went into effect on
November 14 has been lifted by DFG in all locations for all species.
Specifically, the Dungeness crab season will immediately resume and the
season for herring will open as previously scheduled. All pre-Spill
seasons, limits and other legal requirements are now in place.
OEHHA and DPH reviewed scientific information available to determine
whether a human health risk was posed by the human consumption of marine
life caught in the area impacted by the Spill. These entities, working
with others, also collected samples of marine species
from 23 sites both in and outside of the closure area for testing.
Testing was designed to assess whether these marine species posed a
human health cancer risk. The species tested included: Dungeness and
rock crab, herring, shiner and black surf perch, and mussels. In
addition, sensory (taste and smell) testing was done on Dungeness crab
taken from within the spill zone. Samples were taken from outside the
closure area for control testing. This testing has shown that humans who
consume fish and shellfish from the Spill area will not face significant
health risks from exposure to oil-based contaminants. However, there
are two exceptions to the above. Mussels from Berkeley Pier and Rodeo
Beach showed contaminants. OEHHA is amending their consumption advisory
and recommending that the public refrain from consuming mussels from
those two areas until future tests show that the mussels no longer pose
a health risk. It is possible that residual oil may remain on the water
over the next several months. Recreational and commercial fishers should
avoid exposure of their take to these residual pockets.
In a cooperative agreement with the DPH, commercial oyster facilities
remain closed in the affected area.
Additional details for fishers, crabbers and the public are available
via this link:
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/ospr/spill/incidents/cosco_busan/sfbay_fish_open.p
df
Pamela Tom
University of California - Sea Grant
Food Science and Technology Department
One Shields Avenue
Davis, CA 95616 USA
E-mail: pdtom@ucdavis.edu Fax: 530/752-4759
Web: http://seafood.ucdavis.edu <http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/>
59th Pacific Fisheries Technologists Conference
February 3-6, 2008 in San Francisco, CA
Web: http://seafood.ucdavis.edu/pft2008
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