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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 16, 2015)
NORTH COAST THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2015 3A µ%LJFKLOO¶DKHDGIRU:LOODSDVKHOO¿VK State Health mandates rapid cooling for harvested oysters By KATIE WILSON EO Media Group PACIFIC COUNTY, Wash. — Starting May 1, oyster har- vesters and processors across Washington will have to get their oysters on ice and cooled down in less than half the time they were allowed before. The UXOHFKDQJHFRXOGVLJQL¿FDQW- ly alter how the industry op- HUDWHVEXWKHDOWKRI¿FLDOVDU- gue it will do more to prevent VKHOO¿VKUHODWHGLOOQHVV Washington’s shellfish industry brings more than $270 million to the state’s economy and includes about 349 licensees who handle everything from oysters to hard-shell clams and geo- ducks. Of these licensees, about 150 deal with oysters during the summer months and will be the ones directly affected by the rule change. The industry nationwide has operated under regularly updated control plans since 1997. These plans outline harvest methods, tempera- ture control limits, environ- mental monitoring and more — all designed to reduce the risk of illnesses associated with the pathogenic form of a bacteria found in oysters, Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Vibrio can cause gastro- intestinal illness in people who consume raw or under- cooked oysters. Under the new rule, in- land and coastal operations will be broken into risk categories based on wheth- er a certain number of vib- riosis-related illnesses have been proven in an area in the last five years. All of the Willapa Bay and Grays Har- bor growing areas are in the risk 1 category — the lowest risk. They used to have 10 hours after oysters were ex- posed to air temperatures to get the product on ice and then 10 more hours to get them down to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and only in July and August. But now, be- tween the months of June and September, they will have nine hours total to get their oysters contained, cold and down to safe temperature. Under the new rule, if air temperatures rise, those nine hours will drop to seven or HYHQ ¿YH KRXUV 2SHUDWLRQV could be shut down entirely if the weather gets hot enough. “It is unlikely the coast would reach those tempera- tures,” said Laura Johnson, with the Washington State Health Department’s shell- fish program in the office of environmental health and safety. Still, she added, the coast had an unusually warm and long summer last year. “This summer could be tough,” she said. Control plans not working The Vibrio bacterium becomes active at warmer Fire Mountain School KRVWV5DIÀH3DUW\ NEHALEM — On April 25th Fire Mountain School is KRVWLQJ LWV WK DQQXDO 5DIÀH Party from 5 to 9 p.m. April 25 at the “Old” Nehalem Fire Hall, 35900 Eighth St. in Nehalem. Music and dinner begin at 5 p.m., with the grand prize draw- ing at 8 p.m. Purchase tickets for a chance to win a $4,000 trip to Tahiti or any destination of choice. Tickets cost $40 each or three for $100. Each ticket provides IUHHHQWU\IRUWZRWRWKH5DIÀH Party, featuring Hawaiian-style food, sushi and music by Travis Champ, then The Sons of Aloha. Tickets can be purchased at Odie B’s in Astoria; the Can- non Beach Arts Association and Sleepy Monk in Cannon Beach; and at Moxie, T-Spot and Grace- ful Waves in Manzanita. Also for tickets, or for details about the event, call the Fire Moun- tain School at 503-436-2610. Courtesy of StonyPix/Keith Cox Leading peninsula oysterman Fritz Wiegardt, pictured walking in one of his oyster beds, and other Washington state oyster growers will have to speed the time between harvest and product icing under a new regulatory scheme being implemented by the Washing- ton State Department of Health. temperatures after being ex- posed to the air. Outbreaks occur most often during the summer months. Any state that has had an outbreak is required to also have a con- trol plan. Washington has had two large outbreaks, one in 1997 and another in 2006, and 40 to 50 vibriosis-related ill- nesses can be traced back to the state’s commercial oys- ter harvest each year. For ev- ery single reported case, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates an additional 156 illnesses oc- cur. The control plans ar- en’t working, concluded researchers with the Wash- ington State Department of Health. Over the years, there has been an increase in coastal illnesses, especially in the month of September, they said. Johnson said Washing- ton’s new rule seeks to use temperature to be proactive versus reactive. Investing in infrastructure The newly defined risk category 1 operations have a wide window compared to the category 2 and category 3 operations. From May to September, category 2 oper- ations will have seven hours from time of harvest to cool- ing; category 3, which in- cludes a number of inland operations, will have only five hours. “We here are lucky we’re risk category 1,” said Mon- ica Pine, plant manager for Bay Center Mariculture in Bay Center. Still, the rule change could mean significant in- vestment in new infrastruc- ture or changes in harvest- ing and buying practices for some companies — and it guarantees a lot more paper- work for everyone. The Port of Peninsula, for example, immediately began planning to invest in a com- mercial ice machine capable of producing 20,000 pounds of flake ice daily after the rule was adopted in March. While individual operations might have small ice ma- chines, there was nothing in the area that could generate quite so much ice, said Jay N EW & GEN TLY USED SALE Ap ril 17th & 18th , 9 a.m . to 4 p .m . Cla tsop Ca re Cen ter 646 16th Street, Astoria B arbie is retiring B B I A R I S N G MARCH Proceed s from the sale w ill be u sed to su pport a variety of resid en t activities. HUGE APRIL GOLF SALE!! Mention Or Bring In This Ad And Save!! E R E T I R I N JOI ! US Personius, the port’s eco- nomic development officer. It would be impossible for “business as usual to con- tinue in the oysterfields this summer without hundreds of tons of ice,” Personius said. The port plans to make the ice available at market rates in 500-pound totes to area businesses and individ- uals, but priority goes to the shellfish operations affected by time and temperature reg- ulations. Johnson is traveling from training to training but com- panies have only a few more weeks to get everything in place that they’ll need in or- der to comply with the new rule. Companies will have two options when it comes to taking temperatures when the oysters first leave the water: they can take the wa- ter temperature at the depth of the oysters being harvest- ed or they can take meat temperature from an oyster. In general, Pine and oth- ers believe larger companies might struggle more with the rule change, especially if they are getting oysters from a variety of harvesters. Everyone at the training Pine attended was “hem and hawing” about what they would do, Pine said. “I think this first year is going to be trial and error for most of us, including the health department to see how it works,” Pine said. “... This first year they’re being lenient on everyone because it’s new.” 6 3- M P Ba rb ie Jen kin s ha s b een a n o p ticia n fo r the p a s t 20 yea rs here in As to ria . S he s ta rted her ca reer w ith Dr. K u m p u la in 1994, co n tin u ed o n a s it b eca m e No rth Co a s t Vis io n Cen ter, a n d s in ce 2011 ha s b een vita l in help in g Co a s ta l E ye Ca re b eco m e the thrivin g clin ic it is to d a y! As the p ra ctice cha n ged ha n d s s evera l tim es o ver the yea rs Ba rb ie ha s rem a in ed the co n s ta n t fo rce. S he ha s b een d ed ica ted to her p a tien ts fo r a ll this tim e w ith her co m p a s s io n a te w a ys a n d s tea d fa s t s ervice. Barbie will be greatly missed. C om e help us celebrate! Coastal Eye Care 553 18th St., Astoria! Save Big on Last Year’s Gear from Titleist, Callaway, TaylorMade, Cobra, Nike, Adams, Cleveland, and more! Drivers - $149.00 Fairways & Hybrids - $99.00 Putters & Wedges - $69.00 ALL THE NAME BRANDS ON SALE!! 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