Report: swimming, shellfish kill

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by Kristian Gravenor

An international conference held this week at the ICAO building might have induced more than a few to hydrophobia by noting that pollution has become so severe in many parts of the world that it's no longer safe to swim at beaches or eat shellfish.

A report by the Global Program of Action for the protection of the marine environment from land-based activities launched prior to the conference suggests that sewage in the sea will make one in 20 swimmers ill with ear, nose and throat problems, gastroenteritis or even hepatitis A. The report also criticizes as antiquated current standards for measuring waters, which in Quebec is done by measuring fecal chloroform levels, often a result of bird droppings. "People have to make a big effort so that seagulls don't nest on the beach because with a rain, their waste will get into the water," says Daniel Veillette of the provincial Environment Ministry. Of the over 400 beaches the department tested this year only Maria Goretti Beach in Saint-Charles-Borromée and Saint-Quentin Beach in Trois-Rivières were awarded Ds for excess pollution.

Environment Canada's Jim Osborne says that it's still okay to dig into lobster here. "Although we don't have as much sewage treatment as we'd like in Canada, we have adequate treatment for most major cities and we've never had a shellfish illness from bacteria in Canada." Munching on shellfish overseas could be an entirely different story, however. "Steaming it for five minutes is insufficient to kill bacteria," he says.