 Plan increases geoduck marketing opportunities, takes effect in 2003 October 29, 2002
The agreement comes as a result of a conference DEC and Fish & Game sponsored in June with industry, state, federal agencies, and national PSP experts to identify changes that "Although we talk about this agreement as a new monitoring plan, it represents more than that," said Janice Adair, the Director of Environmental Health and chief negotiator of the agreement. "We indeed have agreed to changes in monitoring, but most importantly, we all agreed that more information about PSP is needed and we agreed on how we would collectively get that information. In the final analysis, both SARDFA and the public will come out ahead. The sampling and testing program will result in live sales, SARDFA's primary goal, and provides sufficient information about PSP levels to protect the public health, which is our mandate," Adair added. DEC, Fish & Game and the Association have signed a Memorandum of Agreement to memorialize each organization's commitment to the plan. DEC is posting the PSP monitoring results as soon as they become available once laboratory testing begins in January, to make it easier for harvesters to get timely information and eliminate the need for DEC to fax results. According to a DEC news release, with real-time information available electronically, marketing decisions can be made much more quickly.
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