
DATE: Saturday, October 4, 1997             TAG: 9710040582
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: GLOUCESTER POINT                  LENGTH:   95 lines

AUTHORITIES DECLARE POCOMOKE RIVER SAFE

Virginia and Maryland reopened the Pocomoke River on Friday to fishing and human contact after scientists determined that a toxic microbe, Pfiesteria piscicida, no longer posed a threat there.

``We want Virginians to know it is perfectly safe to eat fresh, unblemished seafood from local waters, and that includes the Pocomoke,'' Virginia Health Commissioner Randolph L. Gordon said in a statement late Friday.

The lower stretch of the Eastern Shore waterway, which marks part of the Virginia-Maryland border, was closed Aug. 29 after more than 12,000 fish were killed by pfiesteria or a pfiesteria-like organism. The microbes shoot toxins into fish that leaves skin lesions and open sores.

In addition, at least 26 Maryland watermen and state workers complained of memory loss, rashes and nausea after extended contact with the Pocomoke. Medical researchers linked the symptoms to exposure to pfiesteria or a similar organism.

The river closure set off a frenzy of speculation and worry that other waterways that drain into the prized Chesapeake Bay and its seafood bounty might also face a pfiesteria invasion. ``Pfiesteria hysteria'' had begun.

Virginia now is examining seven people who are exhibiting similar symptoms of a pfiesteria attack; all had extensive contact with one of three state waterways, which health officials have refused to identify.

The Rappahannock, Great Wicomico and Pocomoke rivers have tested positive for a pfiesteria-like organism, but Suzanne R. Jenkins, acting director of state epidemiology, would not confirm Friday that these are the waterways under suspicion. She said it would be inappropriate to identify them, given that health experts are not sure yet that the seven people are suffering from a pfiesteria-related reaction.

Maryland reopened a seven-mile stretch of the Pocomoke on Friday morning when biologists for the 14th consecutive day could find no trace of pfiesteria or pfiesteria-like organisms in fish or water samples, said Ray Feldmann, a spokesman for Gov. Parris Glendening.

Two other Maryland waterways - Kings Creek and the Chicamacomico River - will remain closed, Feldmann said, because they still harbor pfiesteria-like microbes.

Also, the Nanticoke River and Wicomico Creek, where two incidences of human health problems have been reported, will be monitored, Feldmann said.

Virginia officials followed their northern neighbor's lead late Friday afternoon, citing no confirmed human health problems in the river and the fact that no fish have died in more than 30 days.

One reason for Virginia's delay Friday in reopening its part of the river was that Gov. George F. Allen was in Asia on a trade mission.

State officials were reluctant to contact Allen right after Maryland acted, fearing they might wake the governor. With the 13-hour time difference between Virginia and Asia, their call overseas would have come in the middle of the night.

The reopening should come as a great relief to commercial fishermen and seafood merchants, who have witnessed a steep decline in sales due to consumer fears about the safety of Chesapeake Bay seafood.

Indeed on Friday, Virginia officials gathered on the banks of the York River, at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science in Gloucester Point, to make a statement to reluctant consumers by gobbling oysters, crabs, flounder and clams in front of TV cameras and reporters.

``We just wanted to demonstrate our belief in the product,'' said Dan Kauffman, president of the Virginia Seafood Council and a Hampton seafood packer.

``There's a lot of misinformation out there, and people are scared. But we're here to say that we have a safe, delicious, healthy product,'' he said.

Merchants decided to hold the event now because ``we're hurting,'' Kauffman said. Buyers in Baltimore and New York - two of the largest outlets for Virginia seafood - have slowed their orders in the wake of the pfiesteria scare.

``I've been on the phone, it seems, for two weeks straight doing damage control over pfiesteria,'' said Frances Porter, executive director of the seafood council, which represents 70 packers, processors and harvesters statewide. ILLUSTRATION: Color Map

Pocomoke River

Graphic

PFIESTERIA

A Virginia task force, hoping to clarify what a fish-killing

microbe called Pfiesteria piscicida can and cannot do to seafood,

issued the following fact sheet Friday:

Toxins released by the microbe in water do not accumulate

significantly in fish or shellfish tissues.

Toxins disappear from affected waters within 24 hours, and will

not last long enough to be ingested by seafood consumers.

Toxins mostly affect juvenile menhaden, which are not a human

food fish.