Making sure those oysters are safe to eat is the job of environmental specialists like Patrice Edwards of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. And it's quite a job. She spends an average of three days a week cruising the waters near Destin, Pensacola or Panama City on the department's 19 foot Mako. In Choctawhatchee Bay, she monitors 85 testing stations every month, to ensure water quality standards are adequate to harvest shellfish.
Clean water is the one essential for healthy mollusks.
Oysters, clams and mussels are filter feeders, meaning they get food and oxygen by pumping large quantities of water across their gills. During feeding shellfish take in bacteria, viruses and chemical contaminants, and these impurities can concentrate in the shellfish's digestive system and tissues more than 100 times the levels in the water. Shellfish consumed from polluted water can result in typhoid, hepatitis and salmonellosis. Edwards said the testing stations are located near potential sources of pollution. Septic tanks, stormwater runoff and freshwater rivers and streams can carry toxins into the bay and these spots are targeted by the DEP for testing.