NORDLAND — Carl Johnson has been in the clam and oyster business on Marrowstone Island for 61 years and has survived it all — from red tide to people poisoned by bacteria-ridden oysters.
But more than two weeks ago, the state Department of Health placed a commercial oyster harvesting put a ban on Hood Canal, Mystery, Thorndyke, Quilcene and Dabob bays, and Johnson is feeling economic pain.
“We’re down about 75 percent of what we would be selling if it weren’t for the ban,” said Johnson.
Vibrio poisons raw oysters
The state Department of Health placed the ban on Aug. 2 when reports of people being poisoned by eating raw oysters began to come in.
To date, 113 cases have been reported in the last couple weeks, with 70 of them confirmed as oyster-related, said Richard Lillie, state Department of Health public health adviser.
The illnesses and subsequent ban are a result of vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally recurring pathogenic marine bacteria found in oysters.
It surfaces when shallow water temperatures rise to 59 degrees. It can make those who eat raw oysters deathly ill.
Oysters that have been cooked properly are safe to eat.
The bacteria recedes only when water temperatures begin to drop.
Loss in sales
Johnson would be experiencing a 100 percent loss of oyster sales, but for the fact that the waters of Kilisut Harbor and Scow Bay that run on the western side of Marrowstone Island have not been included in the ban.
It puzzles Johnson that this is true despite the fact that Mystery Bay, which is where Johnson has the majority of his business’s oyster seed, does fall within the ban’s perimeter.
“It kind of don’t make sense,” Johnson said Thursday. “The water goes in and out.”
Johnson’s business, Carl H. Johnson Clams and Oysters, caters to high-end seafood restaurants in Seattle.
The 75 percent loss in oyster sales — from 700 bags of 5 dozen oysters to only 200 per week — amounts to a loss of $8,000 per week.
“When people want 50 bags, we only give them 10,” said Johnson.
“When there’s a shortage, you’ve got to treat everyone right.”