Closing and opening fisheries following oil spills; a case study in Humboldt Bay, California

The issue of fishery evaluation criteria following oil spills in lakes, rivers and seas was discussed. The case of the November 1997 incident in which 4,450 gallons of an intermediate fuel oil was released into Humboldt Bay, California was described. Humboldt Bay contains important shellfish mariculture operations that were subsequently closed by the California Dept. of Health Services (CDHS). The closure and reopening protocols for the fishery were summarized. Suggestions for technical input to resource management decisions were presented. During an initial meeting with regulatory agencies, four levels of criteria were established for rescinding the fishery closure. The fishery closure would be rescinded when: (1) there was a lack of visible oil sheen on the water throughout the commercial growing areas, (2) shellfish tissue samples met the risk-based criteria developed by CDHS, for all analytes of concern in the source oil, (3) all water samples met the risk-based criteria developed by CDHS for all analytes of concern in the source oil, and (4) tissue samples passed an independent sensory evaluation. However, no risk-based water quality criteria were developed and only items 1, 2, and 4 were included in the analysis. 15 refs., 3 tabs., 1 fig