Shellfish harvesting has been shut down for 7,500 acres of southern Maine’s coast after this weekend’s rainfall for fear of fecal contamination.
The closure extends from Freeport to Harpswell and affects commercial and recreational fishermen. Maine’s Department of Marine Resources issued the order Sunday as a precautionary measure.
Bryant Lewis, a scientist for the marine department, said heavy storm runoff picks up feces from wildlife on land and washes them into parts of the ocean where shellfish feed.
“The shellfish are going to accumulate that fecal contamination as their filter feeding, so people could potentially get sick off of eating,” Lewis said. “So this is very different than waters dirty for swimming or for any other use. This is really specific to eating shellfish.”
The closure lasts until the department lifts the order, which Lewis said should be in three or four days. The department automatically issues closures after a harvesting area experiences two or more inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period. Lewis said the department issued more than a dozen such flood closures last summer.
Freeport experienced 2.77 inches of rain from Saturday to Sunday, according to the National Weather Service office in Gray.
“After you get that level of rainfall, that water will cause a lot of runoff,” Lewis said. “So those closures only last for a few days as a precaution because of that increased fecal contamination [risk].”
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
