DATE: Wednesday, June 25, 1997              TAG: 9706250526

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   58 lines

3 CHARGED IN UNLAWFUL COMMERCE OF BAD CLAMS THE CATCH CAME FROM CONTAMINATED WATERS, MARINE AUTHORITIES SAID.

Three commercial fisherman were charged Tuesday in connection with unlawful buying and selling of polluted clams caught from contaminated waters at the mouth of the Elizabeth River, authorities said.

Clamming is allowed part of the year in these waters, off Sewells Point near the Norfolk Naval Base - but only by licensed watermen who must move their catch to cleaner streams elsewhere for purging.

Once relayed out of the Elizabeth River, the clams must be left for at least 15 days to cleanse themselves of contaminants. Only then can they be sold to seafood markets and restaurants.

Anthony Armstrong, 32, of Hampton, faces two misdemeanor charges, punishable by up to $3,000 in fines and one year in jail, for allegedly ignoring this consumer-protection process, authorities said.

According to the Coast Guard and Virginia Marine Patrol, Armstrong was seen buying 2,000 clams Tuesday from two other watermen working shellfish beds just inside the Elizabeth River. Armstrong lacked the licenses to possess and peddle such tainted clams, officials said.

The clams were seized and dumped overboard, said Wilford Kale, a spokesman for the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

The two alleged clam sellers also were charged in this joint-agency enforcement operation, which officials pledged to continue throughout the summer clamming season.

James C. West, 49, of Hayes, Va., and James Marshall, 54, of Gloucester, each face a misdemeanor offense of unlawfully selling contaminated shellfish. They could be fined as much as $2,500 and go to jail for one year, Kale said.

The three men are to appear in Hampton General District Court on July 9, Kale said. None could be reached for comment.

Despite consistent warnings to seafood merchants and watermen, Kale said, such cases occur ``about once a year.'' They are especially worrisome, he said, because if ``just one person gets sick, the Virginia seafood industry can really take a big hit.''

Media reports of restaurant-goers keeling over after eating a plate of clams or oysters can take years for affected states to overcome, he and others said.

The unlucky eater also faces an uphill recovery. Contaminated clams can cause Hepatitis A and various gastrointestinal illnesses associated with sewage and bacteria, according to the state Health Department.

Added Executive Petty Officer Mark Kempton of the Coast Guard: ``I'm sure 99 percent of the clammers out there abide by the rules, but you get one or two of these cases, and you've got real potential for trouble.''

The Coast Guard was called into the surveillance operation by the state as a decoy of sorts, Kempton said.

Virginia holds the power to charge watermen and recreational anglers for illegal fishing in state waters, such as the Elizabeth River, he said. So the Virginia Marine Patrol stationed officers aboard a Coast Guard vessel and let them float around the Elizabeth.

``He (Armstrong) saw us coming; we were almost next to him,'' Kempton said. ``He just figured, I guess, that we couldn't touch him.'' KEYWORDS: CONTAMINATED CLAMS ELIZABETH RIVER ARREST

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