East Coast shellfish harvesting took a temporary hit in September after many shellfish beds were closed due to heavy rainfall. While Hurricane Irene was to blame for some of the closures, heavy rains before and after the late August storm caused other temporary closures.
But by mid-September, Connecticut officials were optimistic about all shellfish harvesting beds being re-opened. Most other East Coast harvest areas were also expected to be open by late September.
New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection closed shellfish harvesting from 27 August to approximately 16 September as a precautionary measure, significantly impacting clam, oyster and mussel harvests. Long Island Sound, Delaware Bay, and most of Chesapeake Bay were also closed temporarily because of Irene.
“Just when they were poised to re-open, the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee came through with 5-plus more inches,” said Robert Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association (ESGA).
In Connecticut, the majority of shellfish beds were closed for around five days prior to Hurricane Irene, opened for a day or two, then closed again through the week of Sept. 12.
“We have a great stretch of weather coming in, so we are over the worst of it,” said David Carey, director of the Bureau of Aquaculture for the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.
Clam and oyster production definitely took a hit from the nearly four-week closures, said Carey.
“We were closed before every one of the three major holidays this summer including the Fourth of July and Labor Day. It is a significant amount of money they lost,” he said. Connecticut harvests around 450,000 bushels of clams a year and around 250,000 bushels of oysters annually.
“Closures of more than a week cause significant hardship: loss of income, layoffs and loss of markets, as buyers have to go elsewhere for their product,” said Rheault. Buyers had difficulty sourcing shellfish for several weeks, he added.
Shellfish prices in mid-September included: Cherrystone clams were USD 30 to USD 35, f.o.b. New York Fulton Market, for 125 to 150 count, and littlenecks ran between USD 80 and USD 85 for 400- count. Cultivated mussel prices remained fairly steady at USD 1.25 to USD 1.35 per pound, f.o.b. New York. Eastern oysters averaged USD 66 to USD 68 per gallon for selects.
Despite setbacks this summer, shellfish production has increased in Virginia, Connecticut and Rhode Island in recent years, according to Rheault. For example, the dockside value for cultured shellfish in Virginia exceeded USD 30 million, in 2009. Cultured oyster harvesting, in particular, skyrocketed to 12.6 million single half-shell oysters in 2009.
