Shellfish industry at risk for closures
Maine's $50 million shellfish industry is at risk of serious closures if the state can't find the money to hire more employees to test the water along the coastline, according to the York County Coast Star.
The federal Food and Drug Administration has said Maine is in noncompliance with its shellfish sanitation program because it doesn't have enough employees testing the waters where shellfish like clams and mussels are harvested, the paper said. The FDA has sent waivers to the state for years concerning its lack of sufficient water testing, but recently changed its status to noncompliance. Rep. Windol Weaver (R-York), a member of the Marine Resources Committee, said noncompliance status could lead to a ban on interstate commerce of shellfish, a $50 million industry in the state, and adversely affect peoples' perception of the safety of Maine shellfish and, even worse, lobster, the paper reported.
Weaver said Maine needs to come up with $280,000 to hire additional water-safety testers to avoid having to shut down most of the coastline, the paper said.
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