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FOOD SAFETY CAN OYSTERS SAVE CAPE COD? BY DOROTHY-JEAN MCCOUBREY, FOOD SAFETY ADVISOR Volunteer caring for baby oysters at the Orleans upweller hile New Zealand has been struggling with the grey, wet, cold and miserable days of winter, I experienced an iconic American summer holiday at Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Cape Cod probably conjures up traditional scenes of the ocean, white clapboard (weatherboard) cottages with shutters, cedar shingles, Cape Cod chairs and fashionable people dressed in nautical colours and boat shoes. While staying at the quaint town of Orleans on the Cape, I experienced these famous images, but scratching below the surface I quickly found life is not so glamorous. The Cape has a wide range of maritime environments; ocean beaches, estuaries full of birdlife and eelgrass meadows which provide ideal habitat for shellfish, flounder, scallops and blue crabs. Sadly, today many of the estuaries and ponds are choked by algae and seaweed. The root of the problem lies in the unbridled growth of Cape Cod over the last 40 years. Towns chose not to install sewers when the government helped subsidize their construction in the 1970s and 80s, fearing it would lead to an influx of people. Newcomers arrived anyway and sprawled out, using individual septic systems to get rid of their waste. Septic systems use the soil to provide basic treatment of wastewater from toilets, sinks, showers, washing machines, garbage disposals and dishwashers. But septic systems were designed to remove viruses and bacteria, not nitrogen. As human development increased on the land, the amount of nutrients like nitrogen entering the coastal waters also increased. Nitrogen stimulates the growth of algae (seaweeds and microscopic phytoplankton). Too much algae decreases the amount of light reaching the bottom, causing eelgrass to die.Too much algae can also contribute to low oxygen conditions in the water, stressing or killing fish and shellfish. Without remediation, excess nitrogen could kill shellfish beds and lead to widespread summer fish kills, as algae, warm temperatures and cloud cover stifle oxygen in coastal waters. This increasing environmental problem is obvious to all those who love the Cape. However, there is strong debate on the best way to solve the problem. In Orleans, waste water has been a divisive subject for years. Some residents say the town should install the $150 million dollar sewage treatment plant that was recommended a few years ago, while others are calling for additional reviews before it is financed by taxpayers. W 12 ■ NZ AQUACULTURE ■ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013 When adult the oysters will not be eaten but will help reduce nitrogen pollution in Cape Cod While visiting I witnessed this battle, as lobby groups on both sides expressed their viewpoints in the lead up to a community meeting to vote on the installation of the sewage plant. At the June meeting the "naysayers" were the ones who won the vote, so Orleans still struggles with a firm agenda on how to stop the nitrogen pollution. However, within this depressing story there is a chink of light. A volunteer community group has been formed, called the Orleans Pond Coalition, which seeks and advocates affordable and environmentally sustainable solutions for the preservation and protection of the Orleans waterways. They believe that good solutions follow good science, and therefore have worked with experts to identify a science-based plan for affordable waste water solutions to improve water quality. One of their innovative initiatives is to grow baby oysters and then transplant the young adults to Orleans waterways. Oysters, being filter feeders, can extract pollution including nitrogen from the water column. Therefore, a keen volunteer group under the tutelage of Sandy Macfarlane have set up a land based upweller nursery system. This year oyster seed was donated and now 30,000 oysters are being cared for by volunteers who give their time and resources to clean the tanks and ensure oysters have a continuous supply of seawater and feed. As with caring for human babies, this project requires love and commitment to keep it moving. The volunteers are united in their love of Cape Cod's beautiful water bodies and their desire to preserve the environment. Maybe the oysters by themselves will not be enough to restore the pristine environment, but the community awareness of the pollution problem that is garnered by such a project cannot be underestimated. The volunteers also learn to appreciate what special creatures oysters are and the important part they play in the wider ecosystem. OPC's enthusiasm is extended to the wider community, educating others about marine pollution and working with council staff to ensure the oysters are placed in polluted environments where they can survive, reproduce, filter and hopefully reduce the nitrogen levels. Cape Cod made me realize once again how special New Zealand is; uncrowded, unpolluted and extraordinarily beautiful. Yet we cannot afford to be smug. Some of our coastal communities on septic systems could well follow the demise of Cape Cod if we are not vigilant.