Safe Beaches and Shellfish

Session B: Safe Beaches and Shellfish

Session Co-Chairs:
Kathleen P. Bell, University of Maine and New England Sustainability Consortium
Kevin Gardner, University of New Hampshire and New England Sustainability Consortium

How are changes in coastal water quality affecting – or projected to affect – beaches and shellfish beds and what new tools, methods, data, and collaborative approaches are available to help anticipate changes, understand the impacts of these changes, and guide regional and local responses to these changes? This session focuses on water quality issues in coastal Maine and New Hampshire, with an emphasis on safe beaches and shellfish beds.

Presentations available

Session Overview

1:30-1:55 pm
Coastal Water Quality: Linking Insights from Analysis of Fecal Coliform Levels and Citizen Survey Responses

Presenters: Kate Beard (University of Maine) and Caroline Noblet (University of Maine)
Authors: Kate Beard, Caroline Noblet, Kathleen P. Bell, Frank Xu, Emma Fox, Abigail Kaminski, Tagwongo Obamsawin, and Margaret Snell

This presentation reports on an investigation of links between spatial patterns in water quality of Maine beaches and shellfish harvest areas with citizen perceptions and priorities for coastal management. We obtained water quality data from the Maine Healthy Beaches (MHB) program and the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR). We analyzed these data for spatial variation in the levels of water quality impairment. These patterns were then compared against spatial variation in survey responses. We surveyed a random sample of coastal Maine residents using a mixed-mode survey (paper/internet). We distributed the survey to 3,000 citizens in January 2015. Respondents were asked to identify priorities for coastal management, provide information on perceptions of water quality and benefits (implications) of excellent (poor) coastal water quality. Additionally, we asked participants about their support of coastal water quality improvement programs.

The combination of these unique data sets create an opportunity for our work to offer insights into similarities and potential differences between the science used to make coastal management decisions and citizens’ preferences and perceptions. Identification of these patterns provides key information for improved communication about coastal water quality and more broadly for policies and projects affecting the coastal zone.

2:00-2:25 pm
Maine and New Hampshire’s Coastal Beaches: Multiple Perspectives
Presenters: Keri Kaczor (Maine Healthy Beaches Program, UM Cooperative Extension), Abigail Kaminski (University of Maine) and Avinash Rude (University of Maine)
Authors: Keri Kaczor, Abigail Kaminski, Avinash Rude, Kathleen P. Bell, Maggie Lynn, John Peckenham, Caroline Noblet, and Charles Colgan

Maine and New Hampshire have over 3,500 miles of coastline which attract large seasonal visitor populations and provide important sources of income for residents living and working in coastal communities. To assess coastal water quality, Maine and New Hampshire both monitor bacteria at their coastal beaches. Unsafe bacteria levels degrade ecosystems, threaten public health, and impact coastal economies and tourism. We share multiple perspectives on beach monitoring and management issues, calling attention to ways in which researchers can address emerging issues for these beach programs.

Maine Healthy Beaches provides a unified, quality-assured structure to monitor, assess, and notify the public of coastal beach water quality conditions. However, the tools and resources available to accurately assess the immediate public health risk and the complexities surrounding bacterial pollution are limited. Given the current and emerging challenges, the Maine Healthy Beaches Program seeks the expertise of researchers and agency partners to help inform beach management decisions and program initiatives.

With a goal of filling large information gaps about users of beaches, we gathered information from visitors to 3 beach systems (Wells-Ogunquit, Saco Bay Area, and New Hampshire Seacoast). Patterns in survey responses reveal interesting differences and similarities across distinct groups of beach users and beach systems. Variations in use, along with differences in perceptions of water quality and the ways users seek out information about water quality, have important implications for the on-the-ground work of state beach programs and other diverse stakeholders.

Decision-support tools that incorporate site-specific spatio-temporal associations and historic water quality data also have the potential to assist beach managers in making faster and better-informed beach monitoring and advisory decisions. In response to interest in tailored decision tools, we employ historic data and statistical classification methods to identify bio-physical and human metrics correlated with high bacteria counts in coastal waters.

3:00-3:25pm
Vibrio in Maine, an increasing risk for bivalve shellfish growing areas and public health

Presenter: Kohl Kanwit (Maine Department of Marine Resources)
Author: Kohl Kanwit, Maine Department of Marine Resources

Presentation Available

Bivalve shellfish pose a unique risk to human consumers for two reasons; 1. they are filter feeders and are capable of concentrating microorganisms and 2. they are predominantly consumed raw or lightly cooked. Vibrios are naturally occurring bacteria commonly found in marine waters. Several species of Vibrio are pathogenic and can cause gastroenteritis as a result of ingestion or septicemia as a result of a wound infection. Vibriosis became a reportable illness in 2007 and since that time, illnesses attributed to Vibrio have increased steadily. Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) is the primary bacteriological concern for human health from the consumption of bivalve shellfish in the temperate regions of the US. In 2013, there were 104 Vp illnesses reported from 13 states resulting in growing area closures and three major product recalls. Maine has not yet had bivalve shellfish epidemiologically linked to a Vp outbreak, but several multisource illness reports lead to the conclusion that the pathogenic strain of Vp is in some Maine waters and is likely capable of making consumers ill. The Department of Marine Resources has recently collaborated with the oyster growers in the Damariscotta River to develop a Vibrio Control Plan. Strict time to temperature requirements in other Vp impacted states such as Washington and Massachusetts have resulted in reduced illnesses and safer product. An increased emphasis on the safety of bivalves in the warmer summer months is critical not only to the health of the consuming public, but also to the growing aquaculture industry in Maine.

3:30-3:55pm
Modeling Variation in Pathogenic Bacteria Concentrations in Coastal and Estuarine Waters

Presenters: Erin Urqhuart (University of New Hampshire) and Kelly Cole (University of Maine)
Authors: Erin Urqhuart, Kelly Cole, Damian Brady, Vaughn Cooper, Steven Jones, Meghan Hartwick, and Jacqueline Lemaire

Estuaries and coastal waters are dynamic environments, subject to variable currents and mixing processes that produce high temporal and spatial variability in water properties relevant to hydrodynamics, water quality, and ecology. These environments are also increasingly vulnerable to adverse environmental, biological, and societal change due to population growth, sea level rise, and climate change. In coastal regions such as the Great Bay estuary of New Hampshire and Maine, it has been documented that both the abundance and distribution of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus are increasing. The highly variable nature of these environments makes them notoriously difficult to survey and monitor.  As conditions continue to change in poorly characterized and unpredicted ways, there is a vital need for more highly resolved monitoring and modeling networks in both space and time.

In this study, the Great Bay estuary is used as a “test bed” to which we will apply a novel pathogen modeling technique. A validated, coupled hydrodynamic-eutrophication model will be used to understand the temporal and spatial variability in bacterial pathogen concentrations. The model will be used both to understand pathogen fate and transport. The eutrophication model will be used to simulate important drivers of Vibrio such as chlorophyll, temperature, nutrients and salinity. This coupled mechanistic-empirical modeling framework will ultimately be used to identify the location and conditions that lead to ‘hotspots’ and ‘cold spots’ for Vibrio in Great Bay.

The advantage of this approach, is that it uses existing eutrophication modeling infrastructure that is widely available in water bodies that require computation of total maximum daily load. By leveraging this existing infrastructure, this approach could be applied to estuarine models globally. Illustrating links between sources and criteria violations will help stakeholders make opening/closing decisions in shellfish and recreational waters in the Gulf of Maine.

Associated Posters: (auditorium)

Economic effects of changes in coastal water quality: lessons from shellfish harvesting area closures
Kevin Athearn (University of Maine at Machias), Kathleen Bell (University of Maine), Xuan Chen (University of Maine), and Keith S. Evans (University of Maine)

Understanding variation and resilience in Maine’s soft-shell clam fishery
Teresa R. Johnson (University of Maine and Elisabeth Maxwell (University of Maine)