Fish inspectors in China notified the U.S. Embassy on Dec. 3 that China was tentatively suspending imports of geoduck and other “double-shell aquatic animals,” such as oysters, because they found high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP, in a Nov. 21 shipment of geoducks. The ban is a particularly nettlesome problem in Washington because China accounts for about 90 percent of geoduck exports from the state. And fisheries in the state harvest and farm 5.5 million to 7 million pounds of geoduck annually, according to Taylor Shellfish Farms, one of the state’s largest geoduck providers. Geoduck are highly prized in China, where the clams sell for retail prices of $100 to $150 per pound. “We don’t have any evidence or information whatsoever about any high levels of PSP in any shellfish.” 
 
 Geoduck harvesters believe the Chinese inspectors applied a standard for the level of toxicity that is well below what is considered safe for humans. On Friday, the governor and Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark sent a letter to the heads of the Food and Drug Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration asking them to engage in “direct interaction with the Chinese government” to determine the status of the ban and to gather information about the Chinese inspection. “That may have an impact on domestic prices,” said Bill Dewey, Taylor’s director of public policy and communications.
– Seafood producers from Alaska to northern California have been hit hard by a Chinese ban on imports of West Coast shellfish, the Seattle Times reports. China says it has suspended imports indefinitely after high levels of arsenic and other toxins were found in a shipment of geoduck clams, but fish companies are crying foul, noting that even in the area where the clams were harvested, health authorities have found no evidence of toxins anywhere near harmful levels. Officials say that Chinese authorities have never imposed such a widespread ban on shellfish before and although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expected to enter negotiations with the Chinese government, the closure could last months, forcing seafood producers to find new markets or lay off thousands of workers. "It's had an incredible impact," the geoduck harvest coordinator for Puget Sound's Suquamish Tribe tells KUOW. "A couple thousand divers out of work right now."