We have been reviewing all the websites and written publications diligently with regard to PSP, ASP, DSP and coliform bacterial closures. They are all about as clear as mud but the consequences if you get mixed up with this stuff are serious and even deadly. As a result, with mussels, clams and oysters everywhere, we have avoided them.
Part of the cruising life is talking to everyone you run across about all matters from destinations, trouble spots, fishing techniques, ad infinitum. What we have learned is that the websites are horribly obsolete and the warning signs posted everywhere are even worse.
The breaking point came when we motored past miles of aquaculture farms raising mussels and oysters only to motor into a cove with a sign that it was unsafe to eat same from the cove we were in.
A friendly neighbour stopped by after we anchored up – a long time local resident – and laughed when we asked him about how safe it was to eat shellfish from the bay. He told us he had literally had thousands from there and they were fine. He advised that the government, due to funding restrictions, had long stopped monitoring the health of the oysters and the signs were generally remnants from long ago. Notably, the government didn’t bother to change their website either.
After hearing this from a number of sources including a cruiser in Walsh Cove where we were anchored, we bit the bullet and went oystering.
BIG oysters – the biggest I have ever seen. All those white spots on the rocks are oysters. The largest were the size of my hand. We pried them off the rocks above the high water line and quickly had a large bucket full of them.
We had them raw, we had them grilled, we had them baked – and they were all spectacular – and we are still here to talk about it today.
Fantastic.
Still, going forward, we will check with the locals before harvesting more.