...to preserve, protect, develop, and restore coastal resources for all Rhode Islanders
CRMC holds Vibrio workshops
February 25, 2016, NARRAGANSETT – The R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council recently held its second of three mandatory workshops on compliance with the state’s regulations for temperature control of harvested shellfish for all aquaculturists.
The workshops are being administered by CRMC’s aquaculture coordinator, David Beutel, and Robert “Skid” Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association (ECSGA), along with R.I. Sea Grant. All current leaseholders must attend one of the workshops if they plan to sell shellfish between June 30 and September 15, 2016.
Beutel was clear about the ramifications of not attending: “If you don’t show up to one of these, you’ll get a C&D (cease and desist order from the CRMC) and will not be able to work your lease.” Unless the regulations change drastically, he said, the training would be valid for three years. This is the first year the training has been mandatory in Rhode Island.
Rheault, who began his aquaculture business in the 1980s before selling it and becoming director of the ECSGA, told those in attendance that he is their voice in Washington, DC. Rheault was instrumental in getting the mandatory training passed via the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Commission.
“We were having a lot of illness in the Gulf, and I learned they kept tightening and tightening their regs, but they were still only getting 50 percent compliance, so I managed to push through the mandatory training,” he said.
Rheault cited the applicable CRMC and R.I. Department of Environmental Management (DEM) regulations, as well as requirements of leaseholders:
In Rhode Island, Rheault said, aquaculturists should be concerned about two Vibrios, vibrio vulnifius, and vibrio parahaemolyticus. The first is rare, with only a few cases of infection outside the Gulf of Mexico, he said, and only serious for those who are immune-compromised. The second, is far more common, Rheault said, and sickens hundreds of people annually. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is more common in higher salinity waters when temperatures are over 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Again, the illness is more severe in immune-compromised individuals, but few mortalities are attributed to Vp alone, he said.
The key to avoiding sickness, Rheault said, is temperature. The time it takes for the bacteria to double in volume (doubling time) increases in direct relation to the temperature. The doubling time is 15-40 minutes at 90 degrees Fahrenheit, but growth stops below 50 degrees.
Once looking at prohibitive regulatory restrictions to reduce incidences of Vibrio illness, advocates for the aquaculture industry – like Rheault – convinced Congress to withdraw extensive industry closures, but in trade, there is now, as Rheault calls it, “an aggressive education plan, to make sure the entire supply chain knows what the problem is.
“From top to bottom, from farm to fork, and we need to make sure no one gets sick,” he said. And as an industry, growers and harvesters need to apply peer pressure or enforcement to get the message across to the few who are not complying, Rheault said.
Much of it, he said, is common sense. People purchasing shellfish should be shopping with a cooler and ice packs if they can’t get the product immediately home. Product should be put immediately in refrigeration once it’s delivered to restaurants.
“While the oysters are pumping, the numbers stay in the background,” Rheault said. “And we know that if you beat up (the product) or put it in a refrigerator for four days, it takes a while for it to start pumping again. If you flip a cage and leave it out for more than a couple of hours, you need to have that stock in the water, and leave it for a full seven days. If you’re just handling it (the cage), and don’t beat it up or refrigerate it, you can put the stock back in the water for a day or two, and then harvest it the next day.”
The Rhode Island Vibrio parahaemolyticus or (Vp) Control Plan is effective July 1 through September 15, but that timeframe depends on whether there are any Vibrio outbreaks. For more information, go to www.dem.ri.gov/pubs/regs/regs/agric/aquacult14.pdf.
Under the DEM regulations, product must be harvested early, and quickly, and must be kept cool and under shade. It must be delivered to a dealer within five hours if coming from the Bay, two hours if from the “thermally impacted areas,” which are largely the salt ponds. Rheault outlined a number of effective cooling options to satisfy the DEM requirements, including an ice and sea water slurry/bath, leaving them in the water as long as possible (after harvest), maintaining proper shade on boats and vehicles (not blue tarp); and getting it to the dealer as soon as possible.
Seed selection should also be a consideration, Rheault said. All seed imported from other states must be approved by the CRMC’s Biosecurity Board, and must be inspected for pathology. He encouraged the aquaculturists to order seed early, order excess, and order from multiple hatcheries. Consider disease-resistant stock, triploids, or large see (they cost more but small seed is tricky), he said.
Rheault also reminded those in attendance that best management practices also rely on common sense. Aquaculturists do not own their leases. Their actions reflect on the whole industry, and if someone makes enemies, it makes everyone in the industry look bad, he said.
“If you get someone sick and you cause a closure, you are hurting everyone,” he said. “Stay in your lease, Work within your permit. Don’t break the law. It really is in your best interest to confront someone doing the wrong thing. It hurts us all. And if they’re driving around with product in their truck bed under a blue tarp, you gotta drop a dime.”
When asked whether attention and education should be aimed at the restaurant industry to ensure proper refrigeration and handling of product, Rheault said, “It would have to be left out in the sun for the doubling time to be an issue. As long as it doesn’t sit on the loading dock, and is refrigerated ASAP, it’s fine. We’ve seen truckers with their reefer units off, but largely, restaurants are just like everyone else. This is easy for us – it’s just being smart with food.”
For more information on aquaculture, go to the CRMC web site – http://www.crmc.ri.gov/aquaculture.html. For more information on the DEM regulations, go to www.dem.ri.gov/pubs/regs/regs/agric/aquacult14.pdf. To download the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association Best Management Practices module, go to www.ECSGA.org. The final workshop will be Monday, March 14, at 6 p.m., at Roger Williams University auditorium.