Red tide puts strain on Northeast

On most summer days, the Barn Hill town landing here bustles with clam diggers who have poured in from Nantucket Sound to hawk the day's catch.

But since a toxic algae bloom known as "red tide" closed down shellfish beds from Maine to Martha's Vineyard - including the entire Chatham shellfishery - only empty skiffs bob in the soft waves of an inlet. On a recent morning, a lone clam digger stood in the parking lot, looking out at the fog.

"Any news?" he asked the town's shellfish constable, Stuart Moore.

"It seems it's getting worse," Mr. Moore told Mike Peltier, who has been clamming commercially for 10 years. "You looking for something to do?"

"Yeah, but I'd rather go clamming.... We looking at six weeks?"

Says Moore: "That's the magic question."

New England is facing its largest red tide in decades. The naturally occurring algae, called Alexandrium, contaminates clams, oysters, and other mollusks that filter seawater for nutrients and can cause illness in humans who consume the shellfish.

While the blooms happen almost every year in various parts of the country, those from the Gulf of Maine have historically drifted to sea before hitting Cape Cod and areas farther south. But experts say that two nor'easters in May helped to bring the tide closer to home. So even as tourists flood in for clambakes and fun on the beach, local fishermen are scrambling to set up emergency meetings, and restaurateurs are searching for ways to import the "local" favorites.

"This is a new experience for Chatham," says Moore, who monitors 63 miles of coastline. He says when he first heard about the toxicity levels last week, he thought, "Oh, boy. This is not good. This is not good. I've always said to myself, 'This is the last thing I'd want to deal with.' "

What's more, some 35 percent of the nation's shellfish comes from the coast between Maine and Connecticut - and the red tide has driven up prices nationwide by about 10 to 15 percent, according to Ted Testaverde, owner of the Fresh Lobster Co. in Gloucester, Mass., who supplies fresh seafood through mail order.

Visitors to Chatham's quaint town center could be forgiven for underestimating these ramifications of the sea. But beyond the stately homes of summer residents are hundreds who depend on shell fishing to pay the bills. Some 500 commercial permits are handed out annually, representing some $5 million in wholesale value.

Many shell fishers, who say they can earn from $150 to $300 a day this time of year, are scrambling. This week a group of them met to explore how to tap federal relief funds and get town and state representatives involved. Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, in fact, Thursday declared a state of emergency - the first time Massachusetts has done so because of red tide. This means the state can seek federal disaster aid for the shellfish industry.

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