Oyster Update
Got an e-mail today from Drew Alden, who runs the Tomales Bay Oyster Co. up in Marshall. According to him, Tomales Bay is still free of oil and all of its oyster farms are in production. He writes:
So, here are the facts as I understand them. The California Department of Health Services, Environmental Management Branch is monitoring the situation very closely. This is the branch of DHS that regulates shellfish farming in the state. They are very capable and dedicated regulators. As soon as this occurred we were contacted by DHS, explaining that they were on this and would be letting us know about any information that affects our farms as it develops.As for the spread of the oil after it leaves the Golden Gate, we have been fortunate. For the most part, there is a strong current running down the coast from Alaska to Mexico. This current is usually assisted by Northwest winds blowing down from Alaska. There is a countercurrent that flows north from the Golden Gate to Point Reyes. As that current comes up to Drake’s Bay it turns west at Point Reyes. The prevailing Alaskan current picks it up and sends it south.
The mouth of Tomales Bay is more than 15 miles north of Point Reyes. The oil has never made it that far north and unlikely to do so because of the prevailing currents flowing southward from Alaska to Mexico.
Seems the oyster farms in Tomales Bay, which include Tomales Bay Oyster Co., Hog Island Oyster Co., and a few smaller, contract growers, have been getting some mixed coverage, with conflicting information as to whether they are selling oysters. Alden seemed quite eager to set the record straight. Who can blame him, as one of the few remaining active fisheries in the Bay Area right now?
