March 2, 2014 — State Toxicologist Andrew Smith received an urgent message in 2011: A team of independent scientists had discovered dangerously high levels of mercury in black ducks in a marsh near the mouth of the Penobscot River.
But what Smith didn’t know was that the same scientists had previously conducted tests that showed similarly high levels of mercury from samplings in the same area of lobsters – the source of the state’s multimillion-dollar signature seafood industry – and failed to report their findings.
It took nearly six years for that lobster information to become public.
The scientists had shared early test results from 2006 that showed slightly elevated mercury results in lobster, but neglected to inform state regulatory agencies about more alarming mercury findings gathered from detailed follow-up tests starting in 2008.
After state officials reviewed the full study, which was completed in 2013, they announced last month that a 7-square-mile area where the river meets Penobscot Bay would be closed to lobster and crab harvesting.
The scientists mistakenly believed that they had informed the state years ago about dangerous levels of mercury. State officials say their own testing done in the same region was too limited and did not detect any immediate threat in lobster.
But the fact that consumers in the lower Penobscot River area may have continued to eat lobster with high mercury levels for years after scientists learned of the threat represents a critical breakdown in communication between entities tasked with working to protect the public.
Now, state officials are planning to change the way they conduct tests in the area, to gather many more samples in the now-known mercury hot spots over multiple seasons.
The vast majority of lobsters fished from Maine waters remain safe to eat: The closed area is only a small fraction of the more than 14,000 square miles in the Gulf of Maine where lobsters are harvested.
“I think the thing to remember is that the average level in even the closed area (is) not that much higher than canned white tuna,” said Smith, director of the state’s Environmental and Occupational Health Programs. “If we had issued an advisory, it would have been to limit your consumption to 3 to 4 ounces per week. That’s in the closed area.”
Smith said the overriding concern in closing the 7-square-mile area was for those who might catch lobsters recreationally, since they might fish over and over in the same area near the mouth of the Penobscot. Commercial lobstermen, by contrast, would tend to fish a region rather than just one area.