Would you eat shellfish from the marina?

AndrewB

AndrewB

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Just back from a cross-channel trip. The marina where I visited a friend is full of really large oysters and mussels. Ignoring the marina rules about fishing, my friend remarked "At low water I take the dinghy around the edge and gather as many as I want. If they were polluted, they wouldn't be so large and healthy." Even so, I declined his offer. Was I passing up on a good thing?
 
The shell fish sold in Galicia has to pass through a depuration plant before being fit to be sold.Sometimes they cannot be harvested because of contaminated water.Best not to chance it,shellfish poisening is quite hurty.
 
AndrewB said:
Just back from a cross-channel trip. The marina where I visited a friend is full of really large oysters and mussels. Ignoring the marina rules about fishing, my friend remarked "At low water I take the dinghy around the edge and gather as many as I want. If they were polluted, they wouldn't be so large and healthy." Even so, I declined his offer. Was I passing up on a good thing?
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Shellfish are filter feeders - they concentrate pollutants. Gawd knows what the E.Coli levels in a marina oyster would be.
 
I'm no expert but my father was a marine biologist; he once told me that bacteria which are harmful to humans may have no effect on shellfish, which are much simpler organisms. This was in the context of looking at the beds for cleaning oysters before sale, in Mersea.
 
Just flush 'em out in clean sea water - I think fresh water with salt added may do, for at least 24 hrs & only cook ones the open ones that close when you tap them.

Heavy metal pollution would be more dangerous as it won't flush out, butI thin it affects the shells quite quickly so you should be able to see the effects of that.
 
AndrewB said:
Just back from a cross-channel trip. The marina where I visited a friend is full of really large oysters and mussels. Ignoring the marina rules about fishing, my friend remarked "At low water I take the dinghy around the edge and gather as many as I want. If they were polluted, they wouldn't be so large and healthy." Even so, I declined his offer. Was I passing up on a good thing?
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Depends on which Marina :)

Generally emphatically no, however we have eaten oysters and other shells fished out of a Marina :eek:
The crustaceans were placed in a metal washing machine drum which was suspended from the stern of the boat.
Eaten 24hrs later washed down by good Champagne!

The marina was infrequently visited by yachts, no-one lived aboard. It was flushed through by a very fast, strong current. The water was crystal clear over a mainly sandy bottom, there were obviously rocks about as well!

The place Etel !
 
They breed mussels in Menai & wash 'em in Conway & sell 'em in France. Both areas are full of thousands of boats using sea toilets. Quite good thro flow from tides mind. We regularly eat Cockles from Aber Menai, a very popular anchorage.

Mr McDoon, I was offering an opinion, which was why I used those words. Do I need your permission first?
 
Not a good idea really....

I have just spent the summer cruising the Spanish Rias and I was amazed how many yachts were pumping raw sewage into the marinas! Many still do not have holding tanks and I got the feeling that the (sometimes) long walk to the onshore facilities was too inconvenient especially at night and for the children.
Every one of the marinas was stuffed full of what the locals called "poo" fish - some of them were huge and obviously well fed - on what I wonder?
 
AngusMcDoon said:
No. Are you going to answer my question?
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If you disagree with what he wrote then say so, don't attack his right to say it.

I know a few people who regularly eat shellfish from marinas after leaving them in clean salt water for 24 hours, they swear by it. I wouldn't just because of the thought of them eating what i flush out.
 
If you eat un depurated bi valves from waters other than a classification 'A',you are exposing yourself to some serious health risks,not just a dose of the squits.8% of UK classified waters are an 'A'.
'Purifing' bi valves in a bath full of fresh water with a handfull of 'Saxa' and a handfull of 'Quakers' thrown in, will not reduce the risk.
Bon Appetite
 
So how do you un depurate a bi vlve....
We used to eat scallps on the bottom when i did a bit of scallop diving... Years ago mind in clean shetland waters....

Hows the waters aroundthechannel islands.....?
 
wklein said:
...I know a few people who regularly eat shellfish from marinas after leaving them in clean salt water for 24 hours, they swear by it. I wouldn't just because of the thought of them eating what i flush out.
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Where do they get the "clean" seawater to flush them out in? It would be pointless just using the same water from the marina as that is what holds the main pollutant - fecal matter from toilets. Commercial purification usually involves sterilised water and ultra violet light.
 
I was always told to but them in saltwater and oatmeal, this gives them something to feed on and 'cleans them' removing grit and what not.
Personally I would never risk anything from my marina, you just have to look at the brown sludge at high tide in certain parts of the marina to know it aint gonna be good for you!
 
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