Molluscan Shellfish Program

Gordon LeBlancProgram Administrator

Louisiana Produces over 32 % of Nation’s Oysters

Louisiana produces 54 % of Oysters harvested from the Gulf of Mexico

Cooperative Relationship

State RegulatoryLa. DHH

Molluscan Shellfish ProgramCommercial Seafood Program

La. DWFEnforcement Division

US. FDA / ISSC(Oversight)

Commercial Shellfish Industry

FDA/ISSC

“To classify state waters in accordance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program’s requirements for the harvest of oysters.”

“To prevent infectious disease through health certification that shellfish harvested from approved growing waters do not contain contamination and pollution hazardous to the public's health”

Molluscan Shellfish Program Goals:

HARVEST AREA CLASSIFICATIONCLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

Louisiana uses a 4 oyster period classification system

• March - April• May - August• September - October• November - February

Oyster Seasons in Louisiana are based upon an annual reporting yearbetween the months:

Harvested Areas Classified

There are 31 harvest areas classified.29 harvest areas fall into seasonal classifications2 harvest areas are conditionally managed

SEASONAL CLASSIFICATIONS:• HARVEST AREAS 1-28

CONDITIONAL MANAGED AREAS:• HARVEST AREAS 29 AND 30• BOTH AREAS ARE LOCATED IN CALCASIEU LAKE• BOTH USE THE CALCASIEU AT KINDER RIVER GAGE

Seasonally Classified Harvest Areas Areas 1-28

CONDITIONALLY MANAGED AREASAREAS 29 AND 30

WATER QUALITY SAMPLING

Over 700 water samples are collected from nearly 900 designatedsampling stations each month from Molluscan Shellfish Growing Areas in Louisiana.

There are approximately 8 million acres of potential harvest area.

ROUTINE SAMPLING INCLUDES BOTH FECAL COLIFORM AND KARENIA BREVIS (RED TIDE) EACH MONTH.

MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH PROGRAMRoutine Sample Stations

SAMPLE STATION OBSERVATIONS

ALLONG WITH SAMPLING RESULTS, GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ARE DOCUMENTED

OBSERVATIONS:

• TIDE• WEATHER• WIND DIRECTION• ESTIMATED WIND SPEED• SALINITY• WATER TEMPERATURE

GROWING AREA SAMPLE FORM

KARENIA BREVIS “RED TIDE”

WHAT IS RED TIDE?

KARENIA BREVIS (“RED TIDE”) is “an algae bloom that occurs when heating of freshwater runoff creates a stratified surface layer above colder, nutrient-richwaters. “

MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH PROGRAMKarenia Brevis ( Red Tide) Sampling Stations

Routine Samples include Karenia Brevis

SAMPLING PROTOCOLS

• Molluscan Shellfish field crews introduce a 100ml water sampleto a prepared “lugo” solution.

• Samples are delivered to the DHH Laboratory within 30 hours of collection.

• DHH Laboratory personnel will detect the presence ofKarenia brevis.

• A confirmed positive will require additional sampling and cell counts will be taken.

• Sample Stations are assigned to areas that Karenia breviswill most likely be present in Louisiana.

Bio-Toxin Sampling Form

CELL COUNTS

0 – 999 CELL/LITER – NO ACTIONMONTHLY MONITORING

1000 CELLS/LITER – 2,500 CELLS/LITER WEEKLY MONITORING

2,501 CELLS/LITER - 5,000 CELLES/LITERINCREASE SAMPLING AS NEEDEDNOTIFY STATE HEALTH OFFICER , STATE EMPIEMIOLOGIST, AND LDWF

5001 CELLS/LITER or GREATERCLOSE IMPACTED GROWING AREAS AND ADJACENT WATERS.

KARENIA BREVIS “Red Tide” Event

THE LAST “RED TIDE” EVENT THAT REQUIRED MOLLUSCAN SHELLFISH AREA CLOSURES WAS IN 1996.

On December 2, 2015 Louisiana received notification from an FDA representative that a major algae bloom of Karenia Brevis was most probable in Louisiana Waters east of the Mississippi River within a few weeks.

DHH referred to the latest routine sample results and determined that additional sampling should be performed even though previous samples were negative.

Due to reports of high concentrations from other gulf states, the Louisiana State Health Officer declared a Precautionary Closure order for Molluscan Shellfish Harvest Areas 1 – 7 on December 11, 2015.

Additional stations were randomly created to detect the presence of Karenia Brevisdue to the wind conditions and gulf stream flow.

Karenia Brevis “Red Tide” Positive

• Karenia Brevis was 1st detected on December 10, 2015

• The Louisiana State Health Officer closed harvest areas 1 -7 as a precautionary measure on December 11, 2015.

• Additional samples were collected by molluscan shellfish field crews and cell counts were documented.

• The highest count was from Bio-toxin sample station 2 located in Area 3

• The lowest count was from Bio-toxin sample station 296 in Area 5

CLOSURE ORDER

CELL COUNTS FOR “RED TIDE” EVENT

STATION LATITUDE LONGITUDE Date Count Time Salinty PPT Temp F

BT 4-3 30.17375 -89.21730 12/14/15 380,000 Cells/L 11:00 23 64.7

BT 4-19 30.04994 -89.11110 12/14/15 230,000 Cells/L 10:10 25 65.7

BT 4-21 29.89472 -89.19722 12/14/15 55,000 Cells/L 9:50 20 65.3

BT 4-24 29.74908 -89.21928 12/14/15 73,000 Cells/L 9:25 20 63.5

BT 4-28 29.62308 -89.30722 12/14/15 43,000 Cells/L 9:00 17 62.9

BT 4-33 29.64889 -89.44028 12/14/15 0 Cells/L 9:30 18 65.1

BT 4-34 29.61945 -89.48694 12/14/15 0 Cells/L 9:15 17 65.5

BT 4-41 29.51500 -89.40167 12/14/15 0 Cells/L 10:00 12 61.9

BT 4-42 29.55917 -89.47139 12/14/15 0 Cells/L 10:15 14 63.1

BT 4-SS1 29.60405 -89.42789 12/14/15 0 Cells/L 9:40 15 64.4

BT 4-ss2 30.17879 -89.12595 12/14/15 940,000 Cells/L 10:30 27 64.6

BT 4-SS3 30.20831 -89.18191 12/14/15 290,000 Cells/L 10:45 23 64.5

8 30.11900 -89.45978 12/21/15 80 Cells/L 10:30 16 58.2

68 29.82178 -89.32809 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:20 20 57

70 29.75675 -89.40814 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:00 20 58.2

72 29.74313 -89.45600 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 8:50 20 58.2

87 30.05316 -89.41720 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 10:15 18 58.2

127 29.66528 -89.53053 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:00 19 58.1

128 29.66797 -89.49773 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:15 19 58.1

162 29.64361 -89.56431 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:30 17 57.9

188 29.61209 -89.55668 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:45 18 58.4

189 29.58133 -89.59950 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 10:00 14 58.4

190 29.55342 -89.59373 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 10:15 15 58.1

296 30.10187 -89.28785 12/21/15 2,200 Cells/L 9:55 18 19:12

299 30.06719 -89.52867 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 10:40 16 7:12

331 29.99500 -89.32700 12/21/15 0 Cells/L 9:40 15 57.6

KARENIA BREVIS “RED TIDE” EVENT December 11, 2015- Sampling stations

KARENIA BREVIS “RED TIDE”

OPEN HARVEST AREAS

Due to the high bio-toxin counts in Area2, 3 and 4 oyster meat samples were collectedand sent to an FDA Lab for testing.

Once oyster meat samples were verified as non detect for Karenia Brevis, the LouisianaState Health Officer declared that all harvest areas will resume to the November February2016 reclassification season on February 7th, 2016.

• Areas 6 and 7 reopened January 13, 2016• Area 5 reopened January 2o, 2016

OYSTER MEAT SAMPLING

REOPENING OF HARVEST AREAS 2, 3 AND 4

Molluscan Shellfish Field Crews continue to collect water quality samples to detect high levels of fecal coliform.

Routine sampling for the presence of Karenia Brevisis currently back to a monthly sampling frequency.

There were no reported illnesses due to the presence of Karenia Brevis.

OUTCOME

QUESTIONS ?