Red Tide seems poised to hammer the shellfish beds from New Hampshire to the Cape and perhaps beyond as it did three years ago.
"The state Division of Marine Fisheries closed Cape Cod Bay shellfishing in Sandwich and Bourne yesterday afternoon. The rest of the Cape and Islands remain open to shellfishing. As a result of yesterday's closures, the coast of Massachusetts from the New Hampshire border to Cape Cod Canal is now off-limits to shellfishing.
Experts are concerned this spring's algae bloom will be a repeat of the devastating toxic algae outbreak of 2005, when shellfish bed closures stretched from Maine to Martha's Vineyard and Massachusetts sustained estimated losses of $3 million a week to fishermen and related businesses."
If it is in Bourne at the East End of the Canal, it will probably be in Buzzard's Bay at the West End in no time. All in all I'm unlikely to go Quahogging this weekend.
We are headed to the Cape this weekend too...the other side of Buzzards Bay (West Falmouth). We weren't planning to dig clams but had certainly thought to eat a few... No point in taking a chance. There's no clam like a bad clam. Have a great weekend without quahogs.
Posted by: Miss Chestnuts | May 23, 2008 at 01:48 PM