DFO re-extends shellfish harvesting ban to Zone 2

Fisheries and Oceans Canada has again banned shellfish harvesting in a section of the Annapolis Basin only days after allowing its reopening.

Zones 2, known as Thornes Cove, and Zone 3, the Pony Road-Queen Anne Marsh area of the eastern Basin, were opened May 29 after tests showed a decrease in levels of bacteriological contamination.

But DFO issued an urgent warning late Saturday advising that Zone 2 was closed as of Sunday, June 1 to commercial and recreational harvesters due to an increase in bacteriological contamination.

Zone 1, encompasses the western section of the basin, including Digby, Smith’s Cove and Deep Brook, has been closed since May 17 when a spill from Digby’s sewage treatment plant led to a complete ban on shellfish harvesting in the Annapolis Basin, throwing about 115 active clam fishermen out of work.

Federal officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans held a public meeting May 28 at Cornwallis Park to answer questions about the closure.

At the meeting, clam fishermen loudly called for compensation because of lost earnings at the beginning of an important part of their season.

The shellfish closure involves include clams, mussels, scallops, quahogs, whelks and oysters.