The oyster producing giant of Humboldt Bay comes to a grinding halt for weeks each year due to sewage overflows. And while emergency aquaculture closures keep the shellfish-dining public safe, oyster farmers say the situation is putting the industry on ice.“When we are notified, everything stops,” said Todd Van Herpe, owner of Humboldt Bay Oyster Company, which farms on three acres in the north bay.Affected farms are ordered closed by the California Department of Public Health’s Preharvest Shellfish Unit, and planned harvests come to a standstill. Sometimes, shipments have to be recalled.For oyster companies, this means cancelled deliveries and triggers what Van Herpe calls a “cascading effect” that disrupts the careful timing of oyster seeds planted years in advance.A closure from one overflow can last up to 21 days. And combined with mandatory harvest shutdowns during rain events, oyster farmers can go months in a year without harvest income.Sometimes, Van Herpe said, the closures can be frustrating, especially when there’s a string of them in a row.“I’m doing everything I can to play by the rules and do a good job, and do this in an ecologically friendly way and try and be an honest purveyor of oysters. And despite all that, something out of my control can shut me down and impact my business,” he said.A California Department of Public Health spokesperson said it’s typical for Humboldt Bay to experience one to three sanitary sewer overflows per calendar year that cause a partial or full bay closure for oyster farming.But why do the spills happen?Overflows often happen during rainy weather, when sewage collection systems get inundated with water. Rain runoff and groundwater can get into aging pipes, compromised private laterals and illicit connections like rain gutters that feed into the sewage system.Jen Kalt, executive director of environmental organization Humboldt Waterkeeper, said sewage systems locally and across North America aren’t ready for abnormal weather events, which are expected to become more frequent.“The infrastructure is not built to accommodate the type of rain events that we’re seeing increasingly because of climate change,” she said.Keep Reading https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2026/apr/29/sewage-keeps-spilling-humboldt-bay-its-hurting-oys/
