You can put Dungeness crab back on your holiday
menus again -- Governor Schwarzenegger has reopened fishing
in the San Francisco Bay, since test results show no significant health
risk from eating marine life caught in the area impacted by the oil
spill. The exceptions are commercial oyster facilities and mussels caught in
two locations: Berkeley Marina and Rodeo
Beach in Marin County.
On Nov. 13, the Governor closed fishing in the Bay so that tests on the fish
could be conducted after a container ship struck a Bay Bridge
abutment west of Yerba Buena Island and spilled fuel into the bay. Some 58,000 gallons of bunker
oil poured into the water, polluting beaches and covering hundreds of seabirds.
Sample testing has shown that marine life in the Bay and coastal waters
are fit for human consumption. Specifically,
the Dungeness crab season will immediately resume and the season for herring
will open as previously scheduled. While fish and shellfish from the
spill area, with the exception of mussels in the two locations, are safe
to eat, it is still possible for marine life to come into contact with pockets
of oil over the next several months. Health officials recommend that sport fishers take a common sense
approach and avoid consuming fish and shellfish with an oily smell or taste.
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