Red scare Poisonous dinoflagellates aren't the only reason Maine's shellfish producers are suffering BY ANDY KING
	Straight dope Want the same up-to-the-minute harvesting information that the professionals get? Call the Department of Marine Resource’s Red Tide and Shellfish Information Hotline, at 800.232.4733.

The red tide that has engulfed coastal New England — from mid-coast Maine all the way down through Massachusetts — has crept up onto land and into the headlines of almost every newspaper in the region, and in many cases, the country. Indeed, it’s becoming a national news story, and rightfully so; although it’s a natural phenomenon not nearly as terribly glamorous as Florida’s hurricanes or California’s mud slides, the hordes of plankton crowding our shores are taking a significant toll on the local aquaculture economy, and that’s putting it mildly: It is estimated that the shellfish industry is losing around $3 million per week, and as recently as June 10 Governor Baldacci followed Massachusetts’s lead, declared an economic emergency, and announced a bunch of meetings.

But what is generally glossed over in virtually all media coverage — and this is floating a whole different raft of problems — is the consumer end of the stick. The folks going out to eat, wanting to buy shellfish at their local fishmarket, buying specialty oysters right from the grower — these are the people left to read about the horrible toxins and the danger they pose if consumed. Strangely, most articles leave out the fact that, unless you harvested them yourself or bought them from a shady dealer (something no one, save the shady dealer, would suggest), the oysters on your plate are just fine.

Red tides occur annually. State governments in the most heavily affected areas of the country (the Northeast, Pacific Northwest, and the western coast of Florida) are constantly testing farmed waters for dangerous levels of toxins produced by population explosions of the microscopic plankton Alexandrium fundyense. When that level (80 micrograms per 100 grams of shellfish meat) is reached, the area is closed down until the plankton subsides and the shellfish naturally purge themselves of the toxin. Additionally, the toxins only affect filter-feeding shellfish, so flounder and other groundfish, lobsters, and shrimp are all safe to consume without concern.

So, as long as you deal with a reputable dealer, and the state is doing their job effectively, your slippery-live-bivalve-chugging fetish should remain satiable.

" The state is doing a top-notch job with the testing and monitoring programs, " says Lori Howell, co-owner of the family-run Spinney Creek Shellfish in Eliot. Unfortunately, just as the summer weather finally arrived and Father’s Day was approaching, Lori started fielding calls from concerned customers canceling orders and asking questions. A local fisherman even wondered if it was safe to eat the flounder he had caught, so wrapped up was he in the press coverage of the plankton bloom. " Overall, " says Howell, " the amount of media attention has made this much worse than it really is. "

Justin Cross, chef at Scales, one of the newest restaurants in the city with a typically wide variety of raw-bar options, has also noticed increased customer concern: " They want to know what is affected, how it is affected, where and when the bans are. " Having grown up digging for clams along the Maine coast, Cross is much more familiar with the phenomenon than most of his customers, and takes the time to educate them on exactly what’s going on. But some of this year’s bans, during one of the largest outbreaks in recorded history, have even Cross confused. For example, when Damariscotta oysters have their weeks-long ban lifted for one day, and then put back in place the very next, folks are alarmed to find them on the Scales menu. Haven’t they been banned?

" That’s been the hardest thing to explain, and I’m a little touchy about using them, " Cross admits.

In the meantime, prices have gone up on the shellfish he can get. They have to; one of his mussel suppliers, who normally holds about 1000 gallons of mussels this time of year, currently only has 23 gallons on hand.

But while the testing and banning process has been difficult for local farmers, it would be even more so if there was a massive outbreak of consumer sickness. Darcy Couture is the very busy Director of Biotoxin Monitoring for the Department of Marine Resources, and while they’re maintaining the same testing schedule as they have year after year (they sample shellfish weekly from 140 sites throughout the state), she sees frustration every day. " It’s been devastating for them, " she says, " but it’s better to say that Maine shellfish is guaranteed to be safe. "

And it is. So get slurping.

Andy King can be reached at dinnerwithandy@yahoo.com