KINGSTON — Red tide is a common summertime affliction for Puget Sound shellfish, but biologists are confused by the latest outbreak in Kingston — which came in the middle of January.
Usually drawing upon sunlight, nutrients and stable water conditions, the bacteria that causes Paralytic Shellfish Poison grows best during the warmer months, but can bloom as late as December, said Kitsap County Health District Environmental Health Specialist Shawn Ultican.
“Certainly with the rain, there are nutrients in the water,” he said. “But there’s been no sun, and cold temperatures recently. I’m not sure why this happened this time.”
Ultican has worked at the health district for 12 years, 10 of those spent specifically dealing with shellfish, and he has never witnessed red tide in January.
“No, this is not a bloom,” said Washington State Health Department marine biotoxin coordinator Frank Cox. Cox said after a bloom, the toxic bacteria that causes red tide forms into cysts, which sink to the bottom of the waterway. The cysts can release the bacteria if punctured or otherwise altered. “I think the cysts let out enough bacteria to be picked up. I have a hard time believing that this cold, nasty weather is sustaining anything.”
The bacteria has not only closed Kingston waters to people hoping to dig clams or gather mussels and oysters from Apple Cove Point to Point Jefferson, but it has put a stopper in many shellfish opportunities for the Suquamish Tribe.
“Sewer spills have caused several tribal digs to be delayed,” said Suquamish Tribe Fisheries director Rob Purser. “PSP is a lot more serious issue, though, and it does affect the digs, too. We can harvest around it, but this is the first year we’ve held off our geoduck harvest.”
The tribe could lose money if it doesn’t meet its quota during the geoduck season — something Purser said it simply can’t afford.
“These things are very hard to predict,” Ultican said. “We collect samples every two weeks usually, but now we’re doing it every week. We have to hit 80 micrograms of the bacteria in two samples to close the area. Kingston was closed until we took two samples Dec. 2, 2006, and they came up clean.”
The Little City by the Sea yielded a count of 847 micrograms in August 2006, 0 in November 2006, 697 on Nov. 20, 2006. It increased to 213 last week, Cox said.
“This particular site has been really toxic since last August,” he said. “I don’t think there will be any new blooms this year. It’s the wrong time of year, but there are enough cysts left that they could register in the samples.”
For more information about the Kingston closure, call the Kitsap County Health District at (360) 337-5235, or visit its Web site at www.kitsapcountyhealth.com.
