The Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission will hold a public hearing and comment session on Tuesday, March 8, at 10 am at Edgartown Town Hall, to discuss the 2016 amendments of the state Vibrio Management Regulations for commercial oyster harvesters.
Proposed changes include reducing the time from 14 days to 10 days that aquaculturists must segregate and resubmerge oysters following offsite culling that exceeds two hours from time of exposure.
The new 10-day resubmergence requirement will also apply to oysters that are returned from a primary buyer in the case of recall or noncompliance.
Aquaculturists on Martha’s Vineyard and in areas in Western Cape Cod Bay will be required to ice oysters one hour after harvest, instead of two hours. Oysters that are exposed for longer than one hour but are returned to the water within two hours will not require a 10-day resubmergence, and can be harvested the following calendar day.
Last year, the DMF and Department of Public Health (DPH) ordered that Katama Bay oyster beds in Edgartown be closed to commercial harvesting from August 28 to Sept. 10 due to high concentrations of the Vibrio bacteria, which led to at least five cases of Vibrio illness traced to oysters harvested from Katama Bay.
Written public comments will be accepted until noon on Wednesday, March 9. Comments should be addressed to Director David Pierce by email to marine.fish@state.ma.us, or by mail to 251 Causeway Street, Suite 400, Boston, MA 02114. To obtain a full copy of the draft regulations, contact Jared Silva by phone (617-626-1534) or through email (jared.silva@state.ma.us).
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