Razor Clams. Photo from NOAA.

The report looks at what would happen if a particularly bad bloom of the Pseudo-nitzschia alga were to force a year long shutdown of razor clam digging. This is a very popular type of recreation along the SW Washington coast, drawing as many as 30,000 people a day during peak clamming season.

Should those tourists stop coming, NOAA says reduced lodging, transportation, and dining sales would take a $22 million dollar chunk out of coastal economies.

Short term closures of recreational shellfish harvesting due to algae blooms are fairly common. But massive closures aren’t all that unusual either. NOAA says the most recent ones in Washington happened during 2002-2003 and 1998-1999.

This year in Oregon, the clamming harvest was closed for about three weeks this fall. Mussel harvesting was closed several times this year and remains closed along the Southern Oregon Coast.

Microscopic image of Pseudo-nitzschia. Photo From NOAA

The Pseudo-nitzschia produces domoic acid, which builds up in shellfish such as razor clams, crabs and some fish. When levels get too high, people who eat the shellfish can be sickened with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In severe cases it can lead to respiratory difficulty, seizures, coma, and even death.

Other types of blooms can produce what’s called paralytic shellfish toxins. The symptoms usually start with a tingling in the mouth or tongue. Really bad cases cause dizziness, numbness and tingling in the arms and legs, paralysis of the arms and legs, and paralysis of the muscles used for breathing.

For more information see:

Oregon Department of Agriculture Shellfish Safety Closures

One, maybe two, gray whales were spotted playing in the waters off the Mill Casino near downtown Coos Bay. It was enough to convince some gamblers to take a break from the slots and check out a close encounter with Mother Nature. The whale (or whales depending on who you ask) was probably migrating south from Alaska to its winter home in Mexico when it decided to wander up Coos Bay for a quick diversion. From the Coos Bay World.

Why Eat Local?

It’s not just Portlanders who are getting into the eat local craze. It’s catching on in Central Oregon, too. An article in the Bend Bulletin looks at why this is becoming so popular, and the reasons for choosing food grown locally.

What To Do With Eugene’s Riverfront

People in Eugene are trying to figure out what to do with 27 acres of riverfront property near downtown. The land is current owned by EWEB, the city’s electric and water utility. EWEB is moving to a new location and is inviting public comments on how to develop it. Some kind of chic urban motif appears to be popular. From the Eugene Register Guard.

Crater Lake, one of 500 lakes in the study. Photo by Dennis Newman

Here’s an argument for catch-and-release.

A new report by the Environmental Protection Agency is raising questions about the safety of fish caught in America’s lakes and reservoirs. The study looked at fish in 500 lakes across the country, including nine here in Oregon.

What the agency found is that it’s just about impossible to catch a fish that doesn’t have at least some mercury or PCBs. Dioxins and furans were also found in most fish.

But are they safe to eat?

That of course varies greatly depending on where you’re fishing and often how you eat what you catch.

Some more results from the study:

Mercury: The study found “potentially harmful” levels of mercury in fish at 49% of the lakes in the study. Mercury gets into the food chain from the burning of fossil fuels, usually coal.

PCBs: 17% of the lakes studied had fish with unhealthy levels of PCBs, a class of chemicals that can cause cancer.

Dioxins and furans: While at least 8 out of 10 fish in the study had at least some level of these chemicals, unhealthy amounts were found in fish at 8% of the lakes in the study.

Unfortunately, the EPA says its hard to draw conclusions about the safety of the fish caught here in Oregon. It says the sample sizes are too small to make any conclusions. But I’m trying to get data on what they found here.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Department of Human Services does have a list of lakes and rivers with fish advisories. You can find that list here.

A new government study concludes that emissions from Asia are a major source of mercury in the North Pacific Ocean, and that if current trends continue the problem will get much worse. That could lead to higher levels of mercury in seafood, particularly tuna.

Scientists have long understood how mercury in the atmosphere gets into freshwater systems. This new research by the U.S. Geological Survey is some of the first to document how it happens in the ocean.

Researchers aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson. Courtesy William Landing, Florida State University.

The researchers sampled water at 16 different sites between Honolulu and Alaska. The first thing they discovered is that mercury levels in 2006 were 30% higher than they were in the mid-1990s.

Then using computers, they created a model to show how Asian pollution is partly responsible for the increase.

The researchers believe that mercury in pollution from Asia settles down on the surface of the Western Pacific. A process called “ocean rain” carries the mercury down to lower depths and transforms it into a particularly nasty form called methylmercury.

Currents distribute the methylmercury eastward towards the United States and along the way it makes it’s way into the food chain and accumulates in seafood, including tuna.

Those same computer models predict that if current trends continue, the level of mercury in the North Pacific will rise another 50% by 2050 which could mean more mercury in seafood, too.

In the United States, people get 90% of the exposure to mercury through seafood, and about 40% from Pacific ocean tuna. The level of mercury can vary widely on where the fish was caught and how it was harvested. For more information see the Montery Bay Aquarium’s Seafood WATCH website.

The paper says Central Oregonians are showing a new interest in growing their own food. Sales of seeds are up at local nurseries and the Extension Service is hearing from more people who want to learn more about gardening.

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Putting those two goals together is the idea behind House Bill 2800, which expands Oregon’s Farm-To-School program.

The bill adds another $22 million into the pot of money schools can spend on lunch programs. That comes to about 15 cents a meal more for lunches, 7 cents more for a breakfast.

But schools that get the money have to spend it on food that’s either grown, or processed, in Oregon.

The argument in favor of H.B. 2800 is primarily one about economics.

The group EcoTrust tested a “beta” version of the bill during a pilot program last fall. Using a $66,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente, it gave the money to the school lunch programs in Portland and Gervais. Just like H.B. 2800, the schools had to spend it on Oregon grown and processed foods.

During the 14-week test run, that $66,000 generated almost $226,000 in spending on local foods. EcoTrust’s computer analysis concludes on top of that, every lunch dollar spent locally increased overall economic activity by another 87 cents.

EcoTrust’s Deborah Kane says it can be tough to convince lawmakers to spend more during a recession. But because the money is invested in the local economy, she thinks the bill is “Great for kids and great for Oregon Ag.”

School lunch budgets are already tight. The federal government provides about $2.35 per meal, and only $1.10 of that gets spent on food. “When was the last time you bought lunch for $1.10?” she asks. Oregon is one of a few states that doesn’t spend additional money on school lunches. She says Farm-To-Schools programs are known to increase the amount of fruits and vegetables in school lunches, which can help fight Oregon’s epidemic of obesity.

Evann Remington of Organic Fresh Fingers in Salem told us she’s behind the bill because she wants to help build a more sustainable model of agriculture right here in Oregon. She believes a local system is better for the planet because it reduces the pollution created by transporting food long distances, and helps build a relationship between farmers and their customers.

The site ranks businesses on their commitment to the environment and sustainability. Greenopia gives them a rating ranging from zero to four “green leaves.”

In Greenopia’s just released ratings on fast food, Burgerville scored three leaves, the third highest ranking in the country.

Greenopia praises Burgerville for using locally grown ingredients, and for its recycling program.  But it thinks the company could do more to make its buildings greener, and to outline sustainability goals for the future.

The highest rated fast food chain is Le Pain Quotidien, which has several locations in Los Angeles and the East Coast.  The highest rated national chain is Chipotle, which earned two leaves.

Goodbye, “mystery meat”. Say “hello” to organic, local, and sustainable.

It all started when Remington was looking for a daycare center for her young daughter. She wanted a place that served organic lunches and snacks. After not finding any, she started up Organic Fresh Fingers, a company that prepares meals from local, organic foods and delivers them to schools and daycare centers.

V.P. For Product Development Kurt Lucas preparing meals.

At first, Remington was head chef, delivery driver and chief bottle washer. Her customers were a mere handful of daycare facilities. Less than two years later she’s President and CEO of a business with 13 employees, serving up 20,000 organic meals a month, and expects to ring up sales of around $600,000.

Remington says the produce comes from a cooperative of organic farmers across Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington. The cheese and milk comes from an organic dairy near Salem. For her, it’s not just a business but a mission to help build community supported agriculture.

Most of her 25 clients are private schools and daycares. Remington says demand from parents for better quality food is helping her business grow. These private facilities, she says, realize that by serving organic meals it sets them apart from the crowd.

Organic Fresh Fingers Frozen Meals

Getting her meals into public schools is a tougher sell. Portland Public Schools use a burrito filling from Organic Fresh Fingers about every three weeks. Kristy Obbink, Director of Nutrition Services for PPS says price is the main barrier to getting more organic food in school cafeterias. Obbink says Portland has about $1.15 to spend for every meal it serves. A meal from Organic Fresh Fingers can run as high as $2.68.

Not that any of this deters Remington. She hopes increased spending on school nutrition by the Obama Administration will help make organic lunches more affordable. There’s also a bill before the Oregon legislature for a new state subsidy to support school nutrition.

As for the students who eat the meals, Remington says it’s the right of all kids, “to have access to high quality, clean and nutritious food.”

Ever wonder where the seafood you eat comes from? I mean, where it really comes from?

More information than you can possibly imagine about that tuna fillet will soon be available thanks to a new program called Pacific Fish Trax.

Here’s how it works. Later this month, two New Seasons Markets in the Portland area will begin selling albacore tuna with Fish Trax bar codes. Scan the fish at a special kiosk, and you’ll get a Facebook like page introducing you to the fisherman who caught fish, the boat from which it was caught, and the processor who packaged it.

Fisherman Bob Aue scans a frozen fish fillet with a barcode during a test run of the project.

A screen shot of what you’ll see after scanning the fish.
Photos Courtesy: Lynn Ketchum, Oregon State University

Once you’re home, there’s even more information about that frozen fillet on the internet. The Pacific Fish Trax website will tell you where it was caught, the water temperature, maps of the ocean floor, etc……

The program is combined effort by Oregon State University, the Community Seafood Initiative, and Oregon commercial fishermen.

“It’s a way of connecting people directly to the food they eat, ” says OSU seafood economist Gil Sylvia. He sees restaurant chefs and seafood retailers having conversations with customers about the food they’re buying, and the stories behind it.

Fish Trax is a pilot program for now. Three fishermen from Newport and about 1400 pounds of frozen albacore are participating. Sylvia hopes to expand the program to include salmon.