APPENDIX R CONTROL OF SPORT HARVESTING AND INTRASTATE SALE By Eugene T. Jensen Shellfish Sanitation Branch Public Health Service Our discussions at this point in the Workshop digresses from the administration of the "Cooperative Program for the Certification of Interstate Shellfish Shippers." However, they do not depart from the concept of a National Shellfish Sanitation Program. We are concerned with the sanitation practices applicable to shellfish sold in intrastate commerce and the public health hazards associated with "sport harvesting" of shellfish. Although the Cooperative Program does not include sanitary control over sport harvesting or intrastate sale of shellfish, we cannot escape the facts that they have public health significance and that adverse publicity attributed to these practices has an impact on the commercial use and sale of shellfish in interstate commerce. Thus, the control agencies, the shellfish industry and the consumer all have an interest in these problems. Under the National Shellfish Sanitation Program each State is expected to classify all areas which can be used for shellfish harvesting or culture on the basis of nationally recognized sanitary standards. These standards are described in Part I, "Sanitation of Shellfish Growing Areas" of the Manual, 'Cooperative Program for the Certification of Interstate Shellfish Shippers." This position has been taken--I believe rightfully--on the premise that there is no practical method for assuring that shellfish, once harvested, will move in inter- or intrastate commerce. While this approach is applied to the sanitary classification of growing waters it has not always been practical for the States to identify to the public all areas in which shellfish are likely to be of unsatisfactory quality. To avoid any misinterpretations of this remark, however, I do want to emphasize that mose of the States have been able to apply their "interstate" identification program to most areas. The situation with respect to sanitary standards is somewhat different. Many of the States issue both intra- and interstate permits. In some cases the sanitation standards for the intrastate shippers are substantially below those for the interstate shippers. This problem of uniform sanitary standards has been discussed many times in the past. In general, the States agree that sanitation standards for local dealers should be comparable with those applied to interstate shippers. However, they did not want to have these shippers included in the Cooperative Program, or to have the sanitation ratings for these shippers included in the annual PHS State ratings. The shellfish industry representatives --usually interstate shippers--on the other hand, see no reason why the local shippers, their competition in home areas, should receive preferential treatment. The 1925 Advisory Committee on Shellfish Sanitation stressed the concept that control of shellfish was the responsibility of the State, but recognized the need for uniform standards. This principle has been followed by the Cooperative Program and ratings of intrastate shippers are not considered in the annual State evaluations. However, the most recent revisions of the Shellfish Manual recommends that Intrastate shippers comply with the same sanitation standards as do the interstate (or international) shippers. The interim draft of Part III of the Manual also provided that a small deduction would be made from a State's program rating if intrastate standards were not substantially equivalent to those of the interstate standards; however, at the recommendations of several States this procedure is being dropped. It seems to me that as health officials we have been inconsistent in our handling of this problem. On the one hand, we have said that all shellfish offered for sale in the United States should be of equivalent quality. At the same time some of the States, not all, have argued that this should not apply to the shellfish offered for sale to their own residents or visiting tourists. At times we have been engaged in great debates over State's rights in this area, and have ignored the relationship of this problem to that of national control. In my opinion we have reached a point at which we should stop talking about this problem in terms of State-Federal relationships. Rather than bicker over the respective roles of the States and the Federal Government, I suggest that we recognize our responsibilities to the consumer--local resident or tourist--and that we agree to the principle that there will be one standard for all shellfish, interstate, intrastate or international, sold in the United States. Specifically, I suggest the following actions: 1. 2. Reendorsement by the Workshop of the concept of a single sanitation That the Workshop request other interested groups, such as CSSE and 3. That intrastate shippers not be considered in the PHS evaluation of State programs; 4. A joint PHS-State progress report should be submitted at the next Workshop relative to the progress made in eliminating dual standards. SPORT HARVESTING OF SHELLFISH The situation which prevails with respect to the so-called sport harvesting of shellfish is quite different from that dealing with intrastate shippers. The former is concerned with plant sanitation and therefore is of limited public health significance. "Sport harvesting" on the other hand may involve the harvest of toxic or contaminated shellfish and has appreciable public health significance. There have been numerous instances in the past in which "sport or home use harvesting," and its associated problems of bootlegging, have caused small outbreaks of disease. In the past year there have been at least three more such incidents. Although these are local in nature, and presumably of no direct concern to the Cooperative Program or to interstate commerce interests, they are nevertheless costly in terms of adverse public relations for the shellfish industry and in terms of local disease transmission. In one case an individual harvested clams from a polluted area for use as bait. Instead he ate the clams, developed infectious hepatitis, and started a chain of events which resulted in 26 additional cases of infectious hepatitis among his neighbors and other contacts. We do not know the exact extent to which the States now permit the harvest of shellfish for private use, but we do know the practice varies widely from State to State. In one State, for example, any citizen apparently has the right to harvest up to two bushels of oysters per day for his own use. He cannot legally sell these oysters. Yet one must ask if these shellfish might not find their way to the markets where they constitute a public health hazard and a potential danger to the legitimate shellfish industry. The answer seems to us to be relatively simple. In practice it may be difficult for each of the States to take the necessary action to provide effective protection for all shellfish consumers. As with the case for interstate shippers, we think that there should be only a single standard for all shellfish and that there is no justification for the private citizen harvesting shellfish from areas known to be polluted or toxic. As a first step toward corrective action, we suggest the following action on the part of the Workshop: Endorsement of the principle of a single sanitation standard for all Recommend that each State examine how it controls this problem and 3. Request that PHS prepare a yearly report on the status of this problem and that the report be made available to interested organizations such as ASTHO, CSSE, ASMFC, etc., and the States. It is probably premature to engage in any discussion of actions that can be taken by the States to control this situation. There are, however, five obvious steps which should be helpful: 1. Review of State laws with a view toward closing any loopholes which permit the harvesting of shellfish from areas closed to commercial harvester for sanitation reasons; 2. Require a harvesting permit for sport or home use; 3. Initiate an educational program directed toward shore residents, license holders and tourists on the hazards of use of shellfish from toxic or contaminated areas; 4. Maintain State programs which will provide adequate identification of areas containing toxic or contaminated shellfish; and 5. Endorse the proposal that PHS give increased attention to this problem in the National program by: a. Making suitable recommendations in a State's program b. Submit a yearly evaluation of this problem to the In our opinion the present inadequate controls over "sport or home use harvesting" is a major weakness in our National control program. We believe that corrective action by the States is long overdue. APPENDIX S BACTERIOLOGICAL CRITERIA FOR SHELLFISH GROWING AREAS By William J. Beck Northwest Shellfish Sanitation Laboratory Purdy, Washington INTRODUCTION Summary Data presented by individuals at the 1961 National Shellfish Workshop (1961) included results of coliform and fecal coliform tests on shellfish growing waters throughout North America. The results of these studies have been combined into one report. In addition, supplemental research data from other areas in North America have been added. From these data certain recommendations regarding the fecal coliform test and standards for the fecal coliform MPN's in shellfish growing waters have been made. Conclusions From the data presented in the collaborative studies, plus that from other areas, the following recommendations have been made: 1. The fecal coliform test enumerated the domestic pollution potential in 2. 3. The fecal coliform test should be performed at an incubation temperature In an approved shellfish growing area, a median fecal coliform MPN of STUDY AREAS INVOLVED Various participants at the Shellfish Sanitation Workshop (1961) presented data from many regions in North America on fecal coliform organisms found in shellfish growing waters. A committee was formed to undertake the task of co-ordinating this wealth of material as well as subsequent research. From these studies recommendations were to be made. A final report on the significance of fecal coliform organisms in shellfish growing waters was to be presented at the next National Workshop. This report is an effort to follow the above instructions from the National Workshop participants. The data used were collected from Canadian and United States growing areas. The various areas, chief investigator, and dates of the investigation are shown in Table 1. Over 6,000 estuarine water samples were tested and evaluated during the collaborative study. Five of the studies were published in detail in the Proceedings Shellfish Sanitation Workshop (1961). Supplementary material was submitted and collated in the study. This supplemental material was received from British Columbia, Louisiana, and PHS research in the State of Washington. Thus all shellfish growing regions in North America were represented in the collaborative study. |