SEATTLE: China has suspended imports of shellfish from the US West Coast, cutting off one of the biggest export markets for Northwest companies and prompting fears of a months-long shutdown.
The Chinese government imposed the ban after discovering that recent shipments of geoduck clams from Northwest waters had high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning, KUOW public radio reported.
The Chinese government says the ban will continue indefinitely. Clams, oysters and all other two-shelled bivalves harvested off Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California are affected.
“They’ve never done anything like that, where they would not allow shellfish from this entire area based on potentially two areas or maybe just one area. We don’t really know yet,” Jerry Borchert of the Washington Department of Health told KUOW.
US officials think the contaminated clams came from Washington or Alaska but are waiting for more details from China to help identify the exact source.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will negotiate with the Chinese government on an agreement to reopen the shellfish trade.
The U.S. exported $68 million worth of geoduck clams last year – most of which came from Washington state’s Puget Sound. Nearly 90 percent of those geoduck exports went to China.-AP
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