Shellfish Have Issues, So Can We Eat Them?

By April Gonzales

In addition to jellyfish and rip tides, what else is in the waters this year that could be a problem for us or marine organisms? Brown tide is back, but, fortunately, fading, which is good news for the scallop population. On the other hand, the lobster shell disease issue is still being examined by scientists and does not seem to be abating at all. Since the 1980s when it was first discovered as tail spots, the disease has progressed to a point where the entire shell rots. The looming question is, how do these issues affect where we swim and what we eat?

The brown tide bloom in the bays is dissipating now, according to Kevin McAllister, the Peconic Baykeeper. If it had lasted another two to three weeks, oxygen levels in the water would have decreased and eel grass beds would have started to die off again.

There was a Brown Tide Genome Jamboree last October in Southampton where Dr. Gobler of SUNY Stony Brook at Southampton gave an overview and the history of the organism's impact on our waters, and scientists presented research. But according to Baykeeper McAllister, no one has a really good handle on brown tide or its causes. It may be that brown tide has a healthy appetite and is biologically adept - it has many ways to extract excess nutrients from its environment that other algae don't have, hence its ability to flourish. The answer to decreasing brown tide and the subsequent shell fish disappearances may be as simple as restricting fertilizer and sewage runoff into the bays, but the scientists have not presented any final conclusions yet.

The tender and tasty Peconic Bay Scallop lives in the eel grass beds during part of its life cycle and has been severely impacted by the brown tide in the past, since eel grass dies off during intense algae blooms. The rapid spread of the algae led to a die-off in the shellfish populations - a big setback for local baymen and the reason you couldn't get local scallops at the fish markets for years. Many of the baymen turned in their scallop rakes, so to speak, ending an era and a lifestyle of many here on the East End. Scientists, baymen and private citizens have been instrumental in bringing back the bay scallop by creating scallop farms where spats can grow and be released into clean water. Karen Rivara, a Southampton College grad, is just now seeing commercial viability for her oyster farm on the North Fork just west of Shelter Island.

There are no local lobsters at Schmidt's seafood market. This year, since there are no local lobsters available on a regular basis, fish purveyor Tim Spellman is buying the Canadian catch, which are safe to eat. The Schellingers, local baymen, fishermen and lobstermen, have recently only caught 100 pounds of lobsters in the 300 pots that they have set. That's a pittance of lobster when you consider the many Hamptons diners who would love to see a stack on the table. This scarcity is the result of the big lobster die-off of the late '90s that has never come back. As a result, the price has gone up.

The second issue facing the comeback of the lobster is shell rot disease. It's doubtful that you'll see any of these poor creatures in the fish market - they're being examined by scientists, including those involved with the New England Lobster Shell disease initiative, and the cause of the disease is being intensively scrutinized. Connecticut marine scientist Dr. Hans Laufer is pursuing studies that link shell problems to the spraying of methoprene as a mosquito deterrent.

Methoprene is used by Suffolk County as a mosquito control in marshes and other breeding grounds for mosquito larvae, which need water to survive. Unfortunately, the runoff from these areas and some direct spraying seems to be going into the bay and is the basis for a lawsuit that the Baykeeper and a local bayman have against Suffolk County. The chemical works as a growth regulator - it prevents mosquito larvae from morphing into their mature form as adult mosquitoes, which leave the water and fly around and bite us. Dr. Laufer's research seems to indicate that the same growth-regulating effect intended for mosquitoes is disrupting the lobsters' shell growth. (Lobsters shed their shells as a part of their maturing process.) The methoprene's action is to keep mosquito larvae immature until it dies off, and Dr. Laufer sees a connection to a weakening of the lobster shells.

More research is needed, but imagine the effect of a growth regulator on an adolescent. Some are now being used to increase height, but what if the opposite were true? Growth regulators can inhibit growth and keep juvenile forms of life immature. This is how methoprene is now being used for mosquito control, but it may also be having some other lasting side effects on lobsters, which, by the way, have for many years been called "bugs."

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