Archived East Coast Bivalve Shellfish Closures

Questions and Answers

1. What is the nature of the closure?

All coastal waters of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and southern New Brunswick are temporarily closed to harvesting bivalve shellfish, such as mussels, oysters and clams, as a precaution against contamination resulting from heavy rainfall this past weekend.

2. What prompted the closure?

Very heavy rainfall fell on large areas of the Maritimes Saturday and Sunday.  This rainfall can cause overflows of sewage treatment and collection systems, as well as other pollution resulting from surface runoff from land.  Shellfish in adjacent waters can be contaminated from such discharges and pose a risk to human health if they are consumed.  Environment Canada recommended to Fisheries and Oceans Canada that all waters potentially affected by this contamination be closed as a precaution.

3. Why does the closure cover such a large area?

The goal of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program is to ensure that consumers have reasonable assurance that shellfish harvested in Canada are safe to eat.  A provision of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program allows for the closure of shellfish areas as a precaution in response to extraordinary or emergency conditions. 

Rainfall of this extent, coupled with high winds, can hold the potential to contaminate large areas. While contamination from waste water overflows may be more targeted, runoff from land creates the potential for more defused contamination that also poses a risk to human health. Protecting the health of the public must be our first priority, and the extent f the closure reflects that.

4. Are all shellfish affected including lobster?

Only the harvest of bivalve molluscan shellfish such as mussels, oysters and clams is prohibited by the closure.  Scallops are excluded from the closure.  Crustaceans such as lobster and crab are not affected. 

5. Why does rainfall affect molluscan shellfish?

Bivalve molluscan shellfish such as mussels, oysters and clams are filter feeders.  That is, they feed from particles filtered from the water that surround them.  If those particles contain pollution from land-based sources washed into the water by heavy rainfall, the contaminants can be concentrated in the shellfish and make people sick if they are eaten.

6. When will the areas be re-opened?

Environment Canada, in consultation with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, will assess the bacteriological levels in water and shellfish over the next week.  Once levels are confirmed as safe, Environment Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will make a recommendation to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans that areas can be re-opened.  It is likely that waters will be closed for seven days as a precaution.

7. Did Environment Canada advise shellfish harvesters to dump their product?

Environment Canada did not give such instructions to any harvesters, nor is it within its authority to do so.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is responsible for the control of commercially-harvested product.  The Canadian Food Inspection Agency must, therefore, advise harvesters as to whether or not product can be processed or exported, and also advise as to the method of disposal or return of potentially contaminated shellfish.

8. Why didn’t the Federal Government Consult with the Provincial governments or stakeholders in these areas?

On issues in which the safety of the public is at risk, a precautionary approach is taken. Food safety is an issue of significant concern to Canadians, and they would not expect or accept otherwise.

9. What is the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP)?

The CSSP is a federal program jointly administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and Environment Canada (EC).  The primary objective of the CSSP is to protect the public from the consumption of contaminated shellfish.

10. How safe are Canadian shellfish?

Canada has an excellent reputation for safe and high-quality shellfish. The Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP) continues to provide Canadians with effective protection against risks associated with the harvesting and consumption of shellfish.

As part of efforts to continuously enhance the CSSP, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Environment Canada (EC), along with industry and provinces, work collaboratively to ensure continued public protection and continued confidence in the safety and quality of Canadian shellfish.

11. What is the Government of Canada’s role in the CSSP?

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulates shellfish processors and ensures that shellfish product processed in Canada, and shellfish product imported to Canada meet Canada’s stringent food safety standards.

CFIA is the lead federal agency for the marine biotoxin monitoring program which samples and analyses shellfish stock to detect unacceptable levels of marine biotoxin, microbiological and chemical contaminants which can pose severe health risks to consumers.

With respect to imported shellfish, CFIA licenses importers and inspects imported products. CFIA evaluates the shellfish sanitation programs of foreign countries in order to determine that they provide controls for product safety that are equivalent to controls established for Canadian shellfish products.

Environment Canada monitors water quality in shellfish growing areas and classifies shellfish harvesting areas on the basis of shoreline sanitary surveys and bacteriological water quality surveys. Shellfish growing areas are classified as Approved, Conditionally Approved, Closed or Prohibited.

Both Environment Canada and the CFIA evaluate government, third party and industry laboratories performing shellfish analyses in accordance with the requirements of the CSSP.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada administers those aspects of the program related to harvest activities. This includes opening and closing harvesting areas based on recommendations by EC and CFIA; posting closure notices, patrolling and enforcing shellfish closures in accordance with the Fisheries Act; controlling shellfish relay operations and harvesting for depuration operations; and implementing and initiating jointly developed Conditional Management Plans.

12. Why was the area around Prince Edward Island opened so soon?

The recommendations by Environment Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on re-openings and closures are based on science-based quality surveys of both water and shellfish meat. Samples need to be collected and delivered to labs, and the testing itself requires varying periods of time. DFO's decisions to re-open are made as soon as we have the data to indicate that shellfish in an area is safe for human consumption, regardless of where that area is located.

BACKGROUND

Rainfall amounts (MSC: unofficial)
48-hour Saturday-Sunday

City	Province	48-hour amount (mm)
Grand Manan	NB	126
Saint John	NB	108
Moncton	NB	92
Bouctouche	NB	67
Halifax	NS	97
Sydney	NS	105
Yarmouth	NS	92
Charlottetown	PEI	108
Summerside	PEI	70
East Point	PEI	63
North Cape	PEI	65