Port project to protect Aquatic Park swimmers from fish waste
April 28, 2009
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| A stinky situation: Bacteria-laden waste, which attracts seals and gulls and often ends up throughout the Fisherman’s Wharf area, could soon be treated as sewage. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Levels of disease-spreading bacteria created by waterborne seafood waste and animal droppings are expected to decline at a popular swimming spot during the next commercial fishing season.
Since the late 1980s, Dolphin Club members and other users of Aquatic Park have been pushing the Port of San Francisco to create a drainage system at nearby Fisherman’s Wharf to funnel fish and crab waste into the sewer system, according to club member Meg Reilly. Funding for the project now appears to have been secured.
Meat, scales, slime, entrails and enzymes from fish and crustaceans currently washes directly into the Bay from fishing boats unloading at Pier 45 and from the pier’s apron, where fishermen transfer freshly caught seafood to traders and processors.
Seals and gulls flock to the water around the pier to feast on the bountiful waste, and carry their droppings and leftover seafood scraps 1,000 yards west to Aquatic Park, according to Port engineering project manager John Mundy.
To protect the Bay and Aquatic Park from the waste, which spreads bacteria and smells like fish, the Port plans to install a new drainage system, including pumps, to channel it into The City’s sewer system, where it would be treated with sewage before being poured offshore, according to Mundy.
A six-month construction effort is expected to employ up to 23 people and could begin in June, Mundy said.
The Port secured the $1.8 million needed for the project in November 2006 from the California Clean Beaches Initiative, but funds from that voter-approved initiative were frozen in December because of the economic and state budget crises, Port documents show.
Replacement funds were recently secured from the federal stimulus package, according to Dave Clegern, spokesman for the California Water Boards, which was charged with allocating some of the stimulus funds.
“As luck would have it, the project is also now eligible for its original grant money since the state has resumed bond sales,” Clegern said in an e-mail Monday. “Pier 45 will not get money from both sources, but it will definitely get the cash required for the job.”
Port Commissioners today are expected to vote to approve the use of the federal funds and to discuss potential opportunities to secure stimulus dollars for a long list of other Port projects.
Herring count nose-dives for second year
The number of herring swimming into the San Francisco Bay plummeted for the second consecutive year last winter, and the state is considering canceling the next commercial harvest.
The California Department of Fish and Game estimated that 145,000 tons of the baitfish swam into the Bay during the 2005 to 2006 winter spawning season. Last winter, roughly 4,900 tons swam into the Bay, preliminary department data shows.
The fish are caught before they lay their eggs by commercial fishermen using gillnets. Their eggs are harvested and exported to Japan, where they are a delicacy.
John Mello, a senior department biologist, said it’s a “possibility” that the next commercial winter herring season will be canceled to help protect the population, which is a staple source of food for shorebirds and bigger fish.
