Shellfish Harvesting Suspended in Delaware
20 August 2008US - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Marine Water Monitoring announced a suspension of shellfish harvesting -- clams, mussels and oysters -- from state waters in the Delaware Bay area Tuesday, citing the risk of potential infection from bacterium.
According to The Daily Journal, the bacterium, vibrio parahaemolyticus, is found in brackish seawater along the coasts of the United States and Canada, and comes from the same family that causes cholera.
The news agency reports that officials suspended shellfish harvesting after two area cases of the illness were caused by the consumption of oysters from local waters.
Darlene Yuhas, DEP spokeswoman, said the ban was only a precaution and not indicative of an epidemic.
"The investigation is ongoing," she said. "Based on the information we had, this was the appropriate action to take. I do want to stress that this is only a precautionary measure. This is being done to protect the public."
The ban still grabbed attention within the shellfishing industry.
TheFishSite News Desk
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