Contacts:      Dan Dewell               FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
               Pam Rubin                10/31/97
               

The seventh edition of the National Shellfish Register is ready to hit the streets, and according to federal officials it's nothing to clam up about. The register shows an increase of 2.1 million acres and 1,058 shellfish growing areas during the period covered by the register, 1991-1995, as compared to the 1990 figures, announced the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"Over 77 million pounds (meat weight) of molluscan shellfish with a dockside value of $200 million were harvested from waters of 21 coastal states in 1995. But the register is much more than a production report. It also summarizes the overall health of the environments where shellfish harvesting takes place," said Nancy Foster, director of NOAA's National Ocean Service. "The latest register points out that urban runoff was the leading source of pollution resulting in harvest limitations, affecting some 2.7 million acres," she said.

The National Shellfish Register is issued every five years. The seventh edition includes information on harvests, restoration efforts, and many types of pollution problems which impact commercial shellfish production in some 4,230 areas throughout the U.S. The register is a cooperative effort among the nation's shellfish-producing states; federal agencies, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and NOAA; and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference. In addition to printed copies, the register and data and information contained in the report, are available both on the Internet and on CD-ROM.

The new seventh edition, titled The 1995 National Shellfish Register of Classified Growing Waters includes for the first time an evaluation of relative shellfish abundance, the basis for classification, the status of shellfish restoration efforts, and the potential to upgrade harvest classification for each growing water.

The register covers nearly 25 million acres of estuarine and non-estuarine waters and also includes categories of data collected in previous editions such as growing water name and location, harvest classification, area, and the types of pollution sources contributing to harvest limitation. The first edition was issued in 1966.

The main categories for shellfish waters are: approved, conditionally approved, restricted, conditionally restricted, and prohibited. The total area of approved waters is at an all-time high of 14.8 million acres (59 percent of all classified waters). There were 2.8 million acres of prohibited waters (13 percent of all classified waters) reported in 1995. The only register year that had less prohibited acreage was 1966 (2.0 million acres), and the percentage of prohibited waters has never been below 20 percent in any previous register.

Nationally, 6.7 million acres of shellfish-growing waters are harvest limited. For 72 percent (4.9 million acres) of these waters, the limitation was attributed to water quality. Thirteen percent (873,000 acres) were attributed to administrative decisions, 8 percent (566,000 acres) lacked a complete and up-to date sanitary survey, and less than 1 percent (119 acres) were limited for conservation reasons. For 13 percent (888,000 acres), the state shellfish management personnel could not provide information regarding the basis for harvest limitation.

The top five pollution sources reported as contributing to harvest limitations were urban runoff (40 percent, 2.7 million acres), upstream sources (39 percent, 2.6 million acres), wildlife (38 percent, 2.5 million acres), individual waste water treatment systems (32 percent, 2.2 million acres), and waste water treatment plants (24 percent, 1.6 million acres). For 350 harvest-limited growing waters (accounting for 6 percent, 544,000 acres) the state shellfish management personnel could not provide information on contributing pollution sources.

Compared to the 1990 register, there is a significant decrease in the acreage that is harvest-limited due to pollution from industry, waste water treatment plants, and direct discharges. There is an increase in the acreage limited by boating, marinas, urban runoff and agricultural runoff.

State shellfish managers reported almost 500 shellfish restoration activities taking place in harvest-limited waters in 1995. Restoration of shellfish-growing areas includes improving water quality, restoring habitat, and enhancing shellfish stocks. Nineteen of 21 coastal states were engaged in at least one restoration activity. The Middle Atlantic region led the way with 667,000 acres (44 percent of the national total). New Jersey reported restoration efforts in 287,000 acres (19 percent of national total), followed by Florida with 259,000 acres (17 percent national total), and Louisiana with 173,000 acres (12 percent national total).

State shellfish managers also reported that 74 percent (5 million acres) of harvest-limited waters had some potential (either high, medium or low) for classification upgrade.

The 1995 National Shellfish Register of Classified Growing Waters is available on CD-ROM for IBM PC or Apple Macintosh computers. It provides a brief multimedia introduction to guide the user and contains all data files characterizing the 4,230 individual shellfish-growing waters. The data files of individual states can be viewed from the CD.

The 1995 Register data can be accessed through a NOAA Web site:

http://www-orca.nos.noaa.gov/projects/95register

For more information or to obtain a copy of the report or the CD ROM, contact:

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
National Ocean Service, SEA Division
1305 East-West Highway, 9th Floor
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3281
Phone: (301) 713-3000
shellfish@seamail.nos.noaa.gov