Water: Fish & Shellfish
Shellfish Protection
We lead or participate in a variety of programs and activities that help protect waters that support shellfish. This website is not a comprehensive list. If you have specific questions or if you are not able to find what you are looking for, please let us know.
We are directed by the Clean Water Act to maintain "...water quality which provides for the protection and propagation of...shellfish..." (§101(a)(2)). Rather than structuring its programs to protect particular living resources, like shellfish, programs are structured by environmental media (e.g., surface or ground waters), sources of pollution (e.g., wastewater treatment plants), specific types of pollutants (e.g., pesticides), and tools to detect, prevent, or correct problems (e.g., water quality standards, nonpoint source control, watershed protection, industrial discharge permits, and financial assistance. Through these and other mechanisms, we are able to work with other governmental and nongovernmental groups to reduce the impacts of pollution sources on the nation's aquatic resources such as shellfish.
- Key Contaminants and How to Find Them
- Advisories
- Monitoring and Results
- Protection Programs and Plans
- Shellfish Area Protection
- EPA and other Federal Links
- Non-Federal Links
You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
Key Contaminants and How to Find Them
Microbial Methods and Indicators
Laboratory Methods
- Methods for Sampling and Analyzing Contaminants in Fish and Shellfish Tissue
- Analytical Laboratory Methods
Hazardous Waste
Pesticide Tolerances
Biotoxins
- Gulf Of Mexico Harmfull Algal Bloom Site, and related links
- Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (CyanoHABs)
Pathogen Review / Research
Advisories
- How EPA's programs relate to the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (PDF) (4 pp, 28K).
- Fish advisories and guidance
- Beach advisories
Monitoring and Results
Surface Water Quality Monitoring
Survey Results
Protection Programs and Plans
Water Quality Criteria and Standards
- Guidance: Use of Fish and Shellfish Advisories and Classifications in 303(d) and 305(b) Listing Decisions (PDF) (9 pp, 67K); (October 24, 2000)
- Table of National Recommended Water Quality Criteria
- Strategy for water quality standards & criteria
Gulf of Mexico
Chesapeake Bay
- Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) — Search on "oyster"
Puget Sound
Marine Sanitation
Shellfish Area Protection
Restoration
Watershed Protection
- Watersheds
- The Watershed Tools Directory - describes several hundred methods, models, data sources and other approaches that States and communities can use in managing watersheds to improve or maintain water quality for human health and ecological purposes.
- Watershed Handbook Online - help communities, watershed organizations, and local, state, tribal, and federal environmental agencies develop and implement watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources.
EPA and other Federal Links
- Estuaries - links to estuary programs
- EPA Water Programs
- Seafood Information and Resources from U.S. Food and Drug Administration
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service
- Classified Shellfish Growing Waters (PDF) (33 pp, 2.3MB) (Historical Documents)
- Chemical Contaminants in Oysters and Mussels
- Classified Shellfish Growing Waters (PDF) (33 pp, 2.3MB) (Historical Documents)
- Center for Disease Control
- Gateway to Government Food Safety Information
Publications and Conferences
- Water Publications Database
- National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP)—EPA's largest electronic documents site allows you to search view and print, including full images of all original pages and full-text, from a collection of over 29,000 documents. This collection includes documents no longer available in print form.
- Training and Conferences
Top of Page
Non-Federal Links
- Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference
- WatershedSS: Water, Soil, and Hydro-Environmental Decision Support System
- NatureServe - Natural Heritage Programs - The Nature Conservancy