China bans shellfish from US West Coast
Print Edition
China has suspended imports of shellfish from the US West Coast, cutting off one of the biggest export markets for northwest companies and prompting fears of a months-long shutdown.
The Chinese government imposed the ban after discovering that recent shipments of geoduck clams from northwest waters had high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, KUOW public radio reported.
The government says the ban that started last week will continue indefinitely. Clams, oysters and all other two-shelled bivalves harvested off Washington, Oregon, Alaska and northern California are affected.
“They’ve never done anything like that, where they would not allow shellfish from this entire area based on potentially two areas or maybe just one area. We don’t really know yet,” Jerry Borchert of the Washington Department of Health told KUOW.
US officials think the contaminated clams came from Washington or Alaska but are waiting for more details from China to help identify the exact source.
The US exported US$68 million worth of geoduck clams last year — most of which came from Washington state’s Puget Sound. Nearly 90 percent of those exports went to China.
“It’s had an incredible impact,” said George Hill, geoduck harvest coordinator for Puget Sound’s Suquamish Tribe. “A couple thousand divers out of work right now.”
In the region, most geoduck farmers are based in Puget Sound, where about 2.3 million kilograms of wild geoduck are caught each year.
Geoduck sell for about US$200 to US$300 per kilogram in China. Although harvested year-round, demand peaks during the holiday season leading up to the Lunar New Year.
Bill Dewey, a spokesman for Taylor Shellfish, the largest shellfish supplier in Washington, said: “I was just talking to our geoduck manager and he’s got two harvest crews and three beach crews essentially doing make-work.
“He’s too nice a guy to lay them off during the holidays, but there’s only so much you can be charitable about making work for people and eventually you’re going to have to lay them off.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
