Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Fishery

Resumen

NMFS proposes to open a portion of the Georges Bank (GB) Closed Area to the harvest of Atlantic surfclams and ocean quahogs, which has been closed since 1990 due to the presence of toxins known to cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has indicated that recent testing of clams collected from this portion of the GB Closed Area, known as Cultivator Shoal, has demonstrated that PSP toxin levels are well below the regulatory limit established for public health safety. As a result, the FDA has determined that harvesting of surfclams and ocean quahogs for human consumption, within this portion of the GB Closed Area, is safe.