Virginia Marine Police

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Marine Police Shellfish Handling

The Virginia Marine Police work hard to ensure the shellfish you eat from state waters is safe.

Officers inspect Virginia oyster and clam harvests to ensure the shellfish brought to market are handled properly, kept cool and are not inadvertently taken from polluted waters.

Marine Police Officers also post the seasonal condemnation signs in waters determined to by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) to have elevated bacteria levels.

Their constant efforts protect both consumers and the economically valuable shellfish industry has earned the Virginia Marine Police top marks for many years from the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, which was formed in 1982 to foster and promote shellfish sanitation through the cooperation of state and federal control agencies, the shellfish industry, and the academic community.

More information on the State Shellfish Sanitation Program can be found here: http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/EnvironmentalHealth/Shellfish/

The Virginia Department of Health also issues fish consumption advisories when fish from a particular body of water are found to contain potentially harmful levels of contaminants. Those VDH advisories can be found here http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/dee/publichealthtoxicology/advisories/.