Shellfish Water Classification Program

The purpose of the sanitary monitoring is to find and evaluate all sources of sanitary pollution that could affect shellfish harvest waters.

Water quality surveys have two main components:

• sanitary pollution source identification and assessment
• bacteriological water quality monitoring and analysis

The results of water quality surveys are the basis for recommending and verifying the classification of an area in terms of suitability for shellfish harvest.

The classification categories are:

• approved
• conditionally approved
• restricted
• conditionally restricted
• prohibited

The Shellfish Water Classification Program supports the delivery of the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program (CSSP), which protects the public from eating contaminated shellfish by controlling the harvest of bivalve molluscan shellfish within Canada.

For more information on shellfish harvest area surveys and classification, please refer to the Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program Manual.

Bivalve molluscs, such as clams, mussels and oysters, feed by filtering seawater for food particles, such as microscopic algae. However, the water they ingest can also include harmful bacteria and viruses.

The Canadian Shellfish Sanitation Program uses the concentration of fecal coliforms as a simple indicator of bacteriological water quality and shellfish food safety.

Fecal coliforms are organisms used to indicate the presence of fecal matter such as sewage. If water contains elevated concentrations of fecal coliforms, shellfish are likely to be contaminated and therefore unsafe to eat.

The Shellfish Water Classification Program does not test shellfish or shellfish harvest waters for chemicals or biotoxins. Such contaminants may be evaluated by other CSSP partners, in consultation with Health Canada (HC).

Examples of sanitary pollution sources include:

• municipal sewage discharges
• on-site septic systems
• sewage discharges from boats
• agricultural runoff and presence of wildlife
• stormwater from polluted areas

• shellfish harvest area closures
• danger of illegal harvesting
• weather-related emergency closures
• report a marine pollution incident
• marine biotoxins
• marine bacteriological water quality data
• geospatial boundaries of classified harvest areas

Shellfish Water Classification Program
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Science and Technology Branch
335 River Road,
Ottawa, Ontario K1V 1C7
ec.msqeinformation-wqmsinformation.ec@canada.ca