China Bans Shellfish from US West Coast

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

You know, when I read an article like this I know it's time to break out the shit-smack filters. Anyone who walks the streets of China can openly see the filthy water used for plants and fish or the open distribution of filthy contaminated meat and vegetables sold for human consumption. I shudder every time I go to the store or food market to see the open meat displays and the filthy methods used to butcher it. It's disgusting and sickening.

 

Now, the zeros of Beijing want to complain about Western shellfish without presenting any evidence. Go screw yourselves you pompous imposters occupying human flesh!

 

 

 

China Imposes First-Ever West Coast Shellfish Ban

Originally published on Thu December 12, 2013 5:58 pm

Blake Severns inspects a wild geoduck just plucked from the bottom of Puget Sound. Severn is a diver with the the Washington Department of Natural Resources Aquatics Resource Division. China has suspended imports of shellfish from the west coast of the United States -- an unprecedented move that cuts off a $270 million Northwest industry from its biggest export market.

China said it decided to impose the ban after recent shipments of geoduck clams from Northwest waters were found by its own government inspectors to have high levels of arsenic and a toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.

The restriction took effect last week and China's government says it will continue indefinitely. It applies to clams, oysters and all other two-shelled bivalves harvested from the waters of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California. U.S. officials think the contaminated clams were harvested in Washington or Alaska. Right now they’re waiting to hear back from Chinese officials for more details that will help them identify the exact source.

http://kuow.org/post/china-imposes-first-ever-west-coast-shellfish-ban

 

 

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

Yes, my post is a bit of a rant, but it's becoming more clear each day that China is trying to undermine the USA.

[lhp]

Of course. The Chinese government loves to have the opportunity to call into question the safety of imported foods since Chinese food safety is such a severe problem. (If you live in China and want to make yourself ill, read about the Chinese dairy industry.)

[Randy W]

Not without reason, though - http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/contamination/biotox/index-eng.html

 

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/points/contam-eng.html

 

The Government of Canada is enhancing controls to ensure that shellfish which could possibly become contaminated or affected by waste water effluent are prevented from reaching consumers. New Conditional Management Plans are being developed for key priority areas to strengthen detection, notification and response. This will assist us to act quickly to close shellfish harvest areas should an emergency discharge to occur at any waste water treatment plant.

 

. . .

 

It is illegal to harvest shellfish from closed or contaminated areas.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

 

Not without reason, though - http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/contamination/biotox/index-eng.html

 

http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/points/contam-eng.html

 

The Government of Canada is enhancing controls to ensure that shellfish which could possibly become contaminated or affected by waste water effluent are prevented from reaching consumers. New Conditional Management Plans are being developed for key priority areas to strengthen detection, notification and response. This will assist us to act quickly to close shellfish harvest areas should an emergency discharge to occur at any waste water treatment plant.

 

. . .

 

It is illegal to harvest shellfish from closed or contaminated areas.

 

 

China has a long history of banning and reducing imports. They use political double-speak and make statements that are rarely corroborated. The foreign importers are afraid to speak out as their words will be interpreted by Beijing as an act to destroy the face of the CCP and the foreign suppliers face large losses during downtime. If it's not beef, it's milk. If not milk, wine, and so on. These actions are taken to reduce the outcry from sub-standard Chinese merchants who are upset that China is buying products from foreign markets rather than buying their filthy crap.

 

 

 

Chilled cuts, which are usually sold to high-end restaurants and five-star hotels, accounted for 18 per cent of Australian beef exports to China in terms of value, over the first seven months of the year. The total trade is expected to reach $600 million this year, making China the third-biggest export market behind Japan and the United States.

 

One Australian exporter, who asked not to be named, said the ban was about protecting local producers who had been squeezed out of the market by surging imports.

 

Another industry figure in Shanghai said the ban was "totally political" and was due to concerns from the local industry that Australian exports had grown too quickly.

 

 

http://www.farmweekly.com.au/news/agriculture/cattle/beef/china-bans-chilled-beef-imports/2672849.aspx

 

Additionally, regarding the Geoduck ban, the fisherman are reaching out to Washington:

 

 

 

Local fish companies, though, are struggling to understand the ban because testing by the Washington State Department of Health in the area where the geoduck shipments originated found PSP levels well below internationally accepted limits.

 

“We’ve gone back and looked at all records — they show results way below any human-health concern,” Donn Moyer, a health-department spokesman, said Saturday. “We don’t have any evidence or information whatsoever about any high levels of PSP in any shellfish.”

 

http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2022464264_shellfishbanxml.html

 

I think they go for the geoduck because of penis envy...

http://i42.tinypic.com/72qgbp.jpg

Edited December 15, 2013 by GuangDongExpat (see edit history)

[Randy W]

To put my comment into perspective, though, my own personal ban on shellfish was in effect long before I ever traveled to China. Since moving here, it has been extended to include anything which spends its life marinading in that stuff.

[Guest ExChinaExpat]

To put my comment into perspective, though, my own personal ban on shellfish was in effect long before I ever traveled to China. Since moving here, it has been extended to include anything which spends its life marinading in that stuff.

 

Shell-fish are often called "filter-fish" in the US. I'm not sure whether there is a physiological explanation as to whether they suck up more water than other sea and water creatures, and whether the bad stuff in the water stays inside them. At any rate, it makes sense if the water and mud is contaminated, that the fish are likely to be also. During my school days in the 80s in Florida, it was popular to buy a few bushels of oysters and suck-em down raw with beer. The locals used to warn that the safest months for oysters was in months containing an "R" (also called, R-month): September, October, November, and so on. I assume it means the non-R-months are hotter and the shell-fish are more likely to be contaminated with bacteria and other fun stuff. I don't know, I just love oysters though. You can bet your ass that I do my best to avoid fish of any kind in China. I know it's a staple of Chinese diet, but I can't get the look and smell of the water of China out of my mind.

 

Apart from that it seems obvious to me what China is trying to do. Those rich-fat cats in Beijing and Shanghai also want to avoid eating contaminated fish from China. So, they try importing them for everyone. Later, the local fisherman get pissed off when the stores are stocking foreign clean fish and rejecting their dirty fish. In an effort to keep the locals happy, the BJ/Shanghai guys stop the imports for a while by accusing the foreign importer of sending contaminated product. The local fisherman are happy for a while until later they cut them off again. They just don't want to admit to the public what they're doing. The world is getting more educated about how China does it, and so are the people of China.

[Randy W]

 

To put my comment into perspective, though, my own personal ban on shellfish was in effect long before I ever traveled to China. Since moving here, it has been extended to include anything which spends its life marinading in that stuff.

 

Shell-fish are often called "filter-fish" in the US. I'm not sure whether there is a physiological explanation as to whether they suck up more water than other sea and water creatures, and whether the bad stuff in the water stays inside them. At any rate, it makes sense if the water and mud is contaminated, that the fish are likely to be also. During my school days in the 80s in Florida, it was popular to buy a few bushels of oysters and suck-em down raw with beer. The locals used to warn that the safest months for oysters was in months containing an "R" (also called, R-month): September, October, November, and so on. I assume it means the non-R-months are hotter and the shell-fish are more likely to be contaminated with bacteria and other fun stuff. I don't know, I just love oysters though. You can bet your ass that I do my best to avoid fish of any kind in China. I know it's a staple of Chinese diet, but I can't get the look and smell of the water of China out of my mind.

 

Apart from that it seems obvious to me what China is trying to do. Those rich-fat cats in Beijing and Shanghai also want to avoid eating contaminated fish from China. So, they try importing them for everyone. Later, the local fisherman get pissed off when the stores are stocking foreign clean fish and rejecting their dirty fish. In an effort to keep the locals happy, the BJ/Shanghai guys stop the imports for a while by accusing the foreign importer of sending contaminated product. The local fisherman are happy for a while until later they cut them off again. They just don't want to admit to the public what they're doing. The world is getting more educated about how China does it, and so are the people of China.

 

 

My own personal ban extends to any day of the week containing the letter 'Y'.