Testing the waters
Stratford- and Charlottetownarea shellfishery could re-open soon
The Stratford- and Charlottetown-area shellfishery is on track to reopen soon following recent effluent samples.
The shellfishery in the Hillsborough River – between Stratford and Charlottetown – was shut down shortly after opening on June 1 due to high levels of effluent from Stratford's wastewater lagoon system near the Hillsborough Bridge.
Stratford Mayor Steve Ogden addressed the topic during the town's recent council meeting, held via video conference.
"It caused a lot of hardship for the shellfishers," Ogden said.
Jeremy Crosby, the town's infrastructure director, said there wasn't enough time to have the lagoon's sludge removed because of earlier confusion as to when P.E.I. shellfisheries were set to open and because of delays caused by the coronavirus (COVID19 strain) pandemic.
He updated councillors with some of the latest effluent samples received on June 9. The results were below their conditional management plan's guidelines, meaning things are headed in the right direction.
"(But) from what I understand, it still will be seven days at least before the fishery would be reopened," he said at Wednesday's meeting.
The samples leading up to this one were above the guidelines – the situation is subject to change and the ultimate decision to reopen the shellfishery is in the hands of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment Canada, Crosby said. His staff is working diligently to have the sludge settled by using natural chemicals.
"We're monitoring it very closely," he said. "It's unfortunate that we were unable to remove all of the sludge."
Deputy Mayor Gary Clow pointed out the upside of the situation is that this could be the last year shellfishermen have to deal with issues like this with the ongoing construction of Stratford's new wastewater collection system to replace the lagoon system.
"It'll certainly make their life a lot easier. They'll not have to be worrying about that as much as they do probably every year," he said.