Some shellfish lease areas in Tomales Bay near the mouth of Walker Creek are facing shifting management rules from the California Department of Public Health because of water quality issues following very heavy rains, despite ranchers’ efforts to improve water quality in the watershed.
The Department of Public Health recommended tightening rainfall closure rules for one area leased by Hog Island Oyster Company because of high fecal coliform levels. Now, the company will have to wait longer before it can harvest shellfish following substantial rains that bring runoff into the bay.
Another nearby shellfish lease closer to the mouth of Walker Creek, which has faced closures since late 2014, will be opened—good news for Hog Island, though under new rules the area can only be harvested during the dry season, according to an annual shellfish report released by the California Department of Public Health in August.
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