• In addition to BART fares increasing by 6.2%, tolls on seven Bay Area bridges will go up by 50 cents January 1, including the Bay, Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carquinez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward bridges, but not the Golden Gate Bridge. [NBC Bay Area]
• The 60 tenants who were displaced by the large fire in the Tenderloin earlier in December still haven’t been able to retrieve their belongings from the building, and they’re demanding answers from Mosser, the building’s management company. [KRON4]
• Raw oysters are the suspected link in a widespread case of salmonella, which has affected 64 people across 22 states, with around 20 being hospitalized but no reported deaths. [ABC News]

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

34 people in California have tested positive for norovirus, the state’s department of health says, and the CDC has counted 91 people in total who have fallen ill across the country, but the real number may be much higher.

While many local oysters and East Coast oysters are still fair game, it's a bad time right now to be ordering oysters that come from British Columbia. California's health department issued an official warning Saturday against consuming raw oysters from B.C., as the Associated Press reported.

Each of those 34 California cases in this norovirus outbreak have been linked to raw oysters that were imported from B.C., and happened between March 11 and March 19. There's no word on specific oyster varieties that may be the culprit, bu it appears the contaminated oysters are connected to multiple oyster farms. The waters off British Columbia are known to be home to upwards of 20 varieties of oysters.

Canada’s Public Health Agency says there could be more contaminated oysters for sale in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Ontario as well.

Monday, the FDA issued warnings for thirteen states: CA, CO, FL, HI, IL, MA, MN, NJ, NV, NY, OR, TX and WA. You can see a map of the nationwide outbreak here.

The CDPH says several oyster farms have now been closed for sanitary contamination, but not before the norovirus hit the area where those oyster growing regions are situated. The Public Health Agency of Canada reports there have been 279 cases of norovirus and other gastrointestinal illnesses linked to the British Columbian oysters in Canada alone.

“The FDA and the states conducted a trace forward investigation to determine where the raw oysters were distributed and to ensure they’re removed from the food supply. Retailers should not serve raw oysters harvested from the following harvest locations... within Baynes Sound: #1407063, #1411206, #278737 in BC 14-8 and #1400036, in BC 14-15,” the FDA warned.

The CDC says this is the peak season for norovirus, with outbreaks happening most commonly between November and April. That agency also says norovirus is extremely contagious and spreads quickly, both through contact with contaminated foods and surfaces, and from infected people.

The most common symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach pain, so it’s often confused with food poisoning or stomach bugs. Another problem is, those symptoms often don’t set in until 12 to 48 hours after the infection, so it’s often difficult for people to pinpoint why the fell ill.

There are ways to prevent against the illness:

• Wash your hands often
• Rinse fresh fruits and vegetables before consuming them, even if you aren’t eating them raw
• Cook shellfish thoroughly, until it reaches an internal temperature of 145°F or higher.
• If you’re sick, stay home until your symptoms have been gone for two days

Photo by Thomas John on Unsplash

The long and salty saga of the former Drakes Bay Oyster Co. site at Point Reyes National Seashore is shucking up another controversial chapter. The now-defunct oyster farm — who once provided nearly 40 percent of California’s oyster supply — sued the U.S. Department of the Interior back in 2013 after losing their lease to farm oysters on the Point Reyes National Seashore — something that they never technically had a permanent right to do, though they were granted temporary rights back in the 1970s. That suit was ultimately denied by the U.S. Supreme Court, so Drakes Bay settled with the National Park Service, who are now cleaning up the 2,500-acre natural estuary known as Drakes Estero and restoring it to wilderness land.

That ending sounds happier than a clam, but new allegations are mucking up the waters. ABC 7's I-Team reports that a former cleanup employee is claiming unsafe working conditions at Drakes Estero, including hazardous chemicals, lack of proper safety equipment, and not providing a toilet for employees for who were simply forced to do their business right into the waters of Drakes Bay.

The employee's claims resulted in numerous OSHA citations, and also resulted in that employee promptly being fired. He additionally claims he hasn't been paid by Galindo Construction, the firm hired by National Park Service to clean up the Drakes Estero Marine Conservation Area site.

The cleanup job entails divers having to clear out the old Drakes Oyster Co. underwater oyster racks. But whistleblowing employee Matthew Zucksberger says divers were given inadequate safety gear to handle toxic chemicals in the oyster racks’ wooden pilings, and were not even provided a functioning toilet.

“I did receive grade two, grade three chemical burns on my hips and on my chest and my torso,” Zucksberger told ABC 7, adding that the lack of a toilet ensured that “all human feces and urine was going back into the estero.”

OSHA took the claims seriously enough that they cited Galindo Construction in November for seven site violations, including failure to perform site inspections, lack of safety equipment and facilities on the job site barge, and creating drowning risks for employees.

The Park Service insisted to ABC 7 that “the contractor corrected these findings immediately” and that “all methods related to the project work were permitted and approved by the regulatory agencies.”

Galindo Construction has refused to comment on the matter, but they’ve slapped a temporary restraining order on the employee who made the allegations against them.

Related: Heavy Rainstorms Caused By Climate Change Could Kill Off SF Bay's Wild Oysters For Good

Its populations originally decimated in San Francisco Bay during the Gold Rush and the consequent pillaging of every local source of food (more about that here), the Olympia oyster — the West Coast's only native oyster species — has been the subject of restoration projects over the years and can now be found growing wild in certain parts of the northern Bay. But a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, suggests that major winter storms influenced by climate change, known as 'atmospheric rivers' when they form as a band along the west coast, can have a devastating effect on these oyster populations.

The LA Times picks up the story, which focuses on the impact of several such storms in 2011. One such storm caused a torrent of freshwater from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to spill into the Bay, changing the salinity of the water around the oysters small swaths of habitat, like at China Camp State Park.

Oysters close up when the water around them becomes too fresh, but after a short amount of time (eight days) they will either asphyxiate or build up too much waste in their bodies, leading to mass die-offs like those observed in the spring of 2011.

The oysters rebounded by November 2013, but they're still smaller than the population that was decimated five years ago — and storms like the one we had last week, caused by an atmospheric river, could have a similar impact on the bivalves.

Olympia oysters are smaller than we expect oysters to be and are described as having a "coppery," sweet, and celery salt flavor, and as populations have rebounded in the Pacific northwest, diners have been able to try them in larger numbers. Our coast has become more accustomed to larger and different tasting species, many imported from Japan to begin growing here more than a century ago. Sunset Magazine did a piece about where to find Olympia oysters in Seattle, in case you're curious what they taste like, and once in a while you may see them (imported from the northwest) popping up on SF menus too.

After a very long and protracted fight that attracted support by everyone from Alice Waters to the Koch Brothers, Drakes Bay Oyster Co. up in Point Reyes may be facing imminent closure after the Supreme Court refused to hear its appeal. The justices gave no explanation for their decision, which leaves in place the ruling by the 9th Circuit in September siding with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, allowing the oyster company's 40-year lease at Drakes Estero to expire, and forcing the land to revert back to protected federal wilderness.

The battle over Drakes Bay has been a complicated one, pitting environmentalists against the food community in an awkward tug-of-war over a single local company that has provided oysters to the Bay Area for decades. With 30 employees and 1,000 acres, Drakes Bay is a large—though not huge—oyster farming operation, but it is one that sells their product entirely locally, and they claim that they represent 40% of California's shellfish production. (This earlier opinion piece from the East Bay Express says that 70% of California's oysters are actually produced in Humboldt Bay, and Hog Island Oyster Co. in Tomales Bay seems like a larger operation than Drakes, but believe what you will.)

Drakes Bay Oyster Company has been farming oysters in the waters at Drakes Estero since 1965, but the original owners signed an agreement with the federal government in 1972 for a 40-year lease, which under a 1976 congressional wilderness designation was not allowed to be renewed because Drakes Estero is part of the protected national seashore. Drakes Bay's current owners, the Lunnys, were then given a warning in 2005 by the Department of the Interior that oyster farming operations would have to cease in 2012, and the company has not had a license for their operation since 2007.

Nonetheless a bevy of Bay Area chefs and restaurateurs, as well as Senator Dianne Feinstein, rallied behind the cause of saving Drakes Bay in the name of saving a local food source, and arguing that Drakes Bay's oyster farming practices were perfectly sustainable. And then everyone found out that a conservative outfit funded by the Koch Brothers, the Pacific Legal Foundation, had joined the fight, likely because the case had broader implications for other fights over federal land, like the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. (In May they fell short of a $25,000 fundraising goal on IndieGogo, so it's unclear how well funded their fight has actually been.)

Still, the Lunnys have fought on, but in late 2013, the 9th Circuit ruled to deny their petition for a preliminary injunction against the federal government to prevent the closure, a decision that the Supreme Court decided to leave in place today.

It's unclear when they may now actually close, given that it does not seem like they have any further legal recourse.

[CBS 5]
[ABC 7]

In the ongoing legal troubles of Drakes Bay, the company responsible for about 40% of California's oysters was denied an appeal that would have allowed the 2,500 acre oyster farm to stay open. [Update: Drakes says they will be appealing the courts decision. Read more below.]

In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar acted within his authority when he declined to renew the farm's 40-year lease that expired in 2012. The farm was granted a 10-year lease extension in 2009 after gathering support from Senator Dianne Feinstein and local food luminaries like Alice Waters, but Salazar terminated that lease last November, claiming the area was was meant to return to a wild, commercial-free state after the original lease expired.

According to the court yesterday, the 2009 legislation left the decision up to the Secretary of the Interior, and the court can't reverse the secretary's call. According to Drakes Bay and their supporters, however, neither the 2009 legislation nor the 1976 federal law Salazar cited ever specifically required that the oyster farm be removed in order to make a wilderness area in Drakes Estero. The lone dissenting judge believed both pieces of legislation viewed the oyster company as, "a beneficial, pre-existing use whose continuation was fully compatible with wilderness status."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the National Parks Conservation Association told the Chronicle that the court decision was a good thing that prevented "attempts to hijack America's wilderness."

Drakes owner Kevin Lunny lamented the loss to the Weekly: "I can't get my mind off what this really means for Marin County and for the San Francisco Bay Area. What it means for West Marin, our history and culture of a small coastal community. What it means for all the people whose jobs depend on this, all the families who enjoy coming out and learning where their food comes from and enjoying fresh, sustainable seafood."

Update: In a late press release, the Oyster Company says they will remain open for now and will be petitioning for a rehearing in front of a full eleven-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit. Lunny said his family's company is confident they will prevail "based on the merits of their case" — especially given the dissenting judge's opinion.

Previously: Drake's Bay Oyster Company Goes To Court
[Chron]
[SFWeekly]

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted Drakes Bay Co. a temporary injunction that will keep the beloved oyster farm open. Whew.

Marin IJ has more:

The 9th circuit court agreed to the emergency injunction stopping the closure while it considers whether to issue a temporary injunction based on [owner Kevin] Lunny's appeal. If it had not granted the emergency injunction, Drakes Bay would have had to close operations by March 15.

"We are beyond thrilled that our business will now remain open while we continue to fight the decisions from the court and Secretary (Ken) Salazar that have put our business at risk," Lunny said.

In November of 2012, if you recall, they lost their 40-year lease on federal land when U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave refused them to renew their lease. Fingers crossed, oyster lovers.

[via Marin IJ]

Drakes Bay Oyster Co. lost their 40-year lease on federal land back in November when U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar gave them the boot and subsequent efforts to renew the lease were drowned out. Now the oyster company, which is responsible for about 40% of California's oysters, is heading to federal court to defend your right to $1 oyster happy hours.

Salazar's decision not to renew the oyster company's lease was hailed by wilderness advocates at the time for protecting Drake's Estero, the estuary in which the company lays their oyster beds. The decision was challenged four days later when Washington-based Cause of Action filed suit, claiming the government based their decision on faulty science. To which the feds retorted that they don't need science in this case. The the Press Democrat reports:

The lawsuit alleges the Interior Department failed to comply with rules for an environmental study that would enable Salazar to make "an informed, reasoned decision" on the permit. [...]
In a response to the suit filed Jan. 9, the government asserted Salazar's action was not subject to environmental rules and the "allegations of scientific misconduct are baseless."

Unfortunately for oyster lovers, in 2009 Sen. Dianne Feinstein gave Salazar the final word on whether the company's permit should be renewed for 10 years. Salazar's own memo on the eviction claimed his decision was "based on the incompatibility of commercial activities in wilderness and not on . . . data that was asserted to be flawed." The government's final say on the matter is that returning the estuary to "full wilderness status" is aligned with the goals of public land that Congress laid out over 36 years ago (the Drake's Bay Oyster Co. lease, again, was 40 years old) and is therefore "manifestly in the public interest." It does not mention, however, whether the public would be interested in another round of oyster shooters.

For now, Drake's Bay carries on — their official move-out date has been pushed back to March 15th and Cause of Action will be asking for a temporary order further postponing the closure until this case is resolved.

[PressDemocrat]

Hey guys, it's the weekend. Almost. But you knew that already. (Also, ugh, Fourth of July falls on a Wednesday, so it will fell like one long late Sunday afternoon. So cruel.) Be sure to check out two things happening this weekend. One involving oysters in the park, the other no cars.

Saturday: From 11am-6pm, the annual Oysterfest will go down in Sharon Meadow at Golden Gate Park. Tickets are still available for $35 (not including food and beverage). A few oyster purveyors will be Drakes Bay Oysters, Gustavos, O’Reillys, Saltwater, and more. Also, DJ Aaron Axelson shall spin vinyl beats while you get ripped on Wild Turkey. Slurp.

Sunday: Take to your bike or feet and head to the Mission for Sunday Streets. Look, there will be parking available near the route, but, come on, just walk over or take public transit. Don't clog up surrounding streets with your gas guzzler. (Unless you have a pristine 1970s antique in polished earth tones. In which case, have at it. Show of your bad-ass self.) Here's a map of the route, which runs along Valencia Street from 14th to 24th and 24th Street from Valencia to Hampshire. 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.

In a few minutes or so, your SFist editor (and the bassist from Whitesnake, along with a few other notable locals) will head over to the other side of San Francisco to judge McCormick & Kuleto's annual "shuck & swallow" (pull your mind out of the gutter, please) oyster competition. The oyster eating throwdown involves around a dozen or so teams, each consisting of two members from various Bay Area restaurants, competing to crack open and gulp as many oysters as possible within a 10-minute period. Viewing the competition is free and starts at 5 p.m.

After the swallowing goes down, a $30 oyster and wine pairing will take place at McCormick & Kuleto’s. Tickets will available at the door.

Oh, and here's your star-studded (chortle) list of celebrity guest judges.

Kevin Blum (SFCityDish.com)
Steve Bradley (No Doubt)
Uriah Duffy (bass player with Whitesnake)
Chuy Gomez (KMEL-FM 106.1 morning DJ)
Phillip Gums III (Model, Commercial Actor, Owner of JE Model Management)
Icky (Producer, Sarah and Vinnie Morning Show Alice@97.3)
Jayn (On-air talent, middays on Alice@97.3)
Ruggy Joesten (Yelp Community Manager, San Francisco)
Brock Keeling (SFist Editor)
Liam Mayclem (TV host, Eye on the Bay CBS5)
Micaya (SF Hip Hop Dance Festival producer)
Lee Munro (6 Flags Discovery Kingdom)
Charleston Pierce (Macy's Passport Model and Coach)
James Stolich (Nob Hill Gazette “Taste” columnist)
Kimmie Taylor (Kevin Brown Morning Show Producer, Music Dir., Jock on KBLX)
Joey Vee (Oldies 103.7-FM)

McCormick & Kuleto’s Seafood Restaurant (900 North Point in Ghirardelli at Larkin)

A tasty, slick reminder for all you oyster fans: Waterbar’s 3rd annual OysterFest cracks open on Saturday, August 27. For a mere $40, you get unlimited access to oysters, Napa wines and artisan beer "as well as oyster shucking, oyster eating and hot sauce contests with Olympic Gold Medalist and Food Network host Brian Boitano as a judge." (You should pay $40 alone to see Boitano, folks.)

Last year's festival saw more than 6,000 oysters served. Which: whoa. That's a lot of protein.

Another reminder: This is NOT the same OysterFest that the health department investigated earlier this year after several attendees fell ill after consuming campylobacter, a "twisted bacteria." Waterbar's OysterFest, though bearing the same name, is an entirely different oyster bash. Please be advised.

What: Oysterfest at Waterbar
Where: Waterbar (399 The Embarcadero South, between Folsom and Harrison)
When: Saturday, August 27 (noon - 3 p.m.)
Tickets: $40/person, all inclusive. Buy tickets at waterbarsf.com.

Given the control PR ilk try to exert over food writing in the Bay Area, we're shocked (and a bit tickled) to see this story go live. See, several people fell ill at last month's SF OysterFest at Fort Mason after apparently consuming a bacteria-laced food item that kept them on the toilet for hours. City Insider reports: "The Department of Public Health was on the case -- and has determined the culprit was 'campylobacter' which means 'twisted bacteria.' Sounds yummy, huh? It causes major food poisoning and symptoms last for up to a week."

Several Yelpers took the the internet to vent their reactions. Attendee turned unwitting diarrhea sufferer Miriam F had this to say:

I started feeling REALLY sick on Tuesday, chills, shaking, on the toilet CONSTANTLY and my fever was over 103 and would not come down with advil. I went to an urgent care Weds morning and was sent directly to the ER. They did a blood test and my white blood cell count was through the roof meaning I obviously had a terrible infection. They had no clue what it was...it took me three full days of antibiotics through an IV, morphine for the stomach pain etc...until I was OK. I was finally released that Friday when they diagnosed me with CHLAMPOBACTER. The odd thing is that this type of food poisoning is from contaminated poultry. You could get it even if somebody for example touched the poultry and then a cucumber. I only had oysters and beer at the festival but suppose that they could've gotten contaminated.

Egads. Sounds disgusting.

The S.F. Health Department went on to tell SFGate that "there's no ongoing concern." We can only hope that the upcoming OysterFest at Waterbar (side note: these people really need to come together to figure out another name for oyster galas) on 8/27 takes the proper precautions.

[SFGate]

Billed as a kickoff to San Francisco's Indian summer (which, well, we might not feel this year of if the glacial summer weather is any indication), Waterbar hosts the second annual OysterFest on Saturday, August 28th.

The outdoor festival (pray for sun) will feature grub from oyster Waterbar (Oysters with House-made Sauerkraut), Farallon, Nick’s Cove (Oyster Gazpacho), EPIC Roasthouse, Nettie’s Crab Shack (Oyster Po-Boys), Drakes Bay Oyster Company and Beausoleil Oyster. The oyster festival will also feature live music by surf band Drifting Sand, as well as "local celebrity" emcees/judges including. Also, there will be wine. Lots of it.

All proceeds will go to benefit the Surfrider Foundation, a bitchin', surfer-founded agency dedicated to the protection and enjoyment of our world’s oceans, waves and beaches. If you have a drop of California blood running through your veins, you probably heard of Surfrider. (If you can't make it to the OysterFest, feel free to donate something, anything here.)

What: Waterbar's OysterFest
Where: Waterbar (399 Embarcadero South, between Folsom and Harrison)
When: Saturday, August 28
Time: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Tickets: $30 (includes admission, oysters, small plates, Napa wines and local beers)

by Rachel Brodsky

Mmm crabs. No not those crabs. I'm talking about the good kind! And, as most of you in the Bay Area now already, Maryland isn't the only place you can procure a fine plate of 'em. Being adjacent to the Bay and all, San Francisco is one of the best destinations in the country for many different types of seafood. In fact, this Saturday marks the start of Dungeness Crab season (which technically began in November, but we hear the catch is the strongest from December to February).

So for those of you who can't get enough of those juicy, tasty sea creatures, we recommend that you head on down to the 3rd Annual Slow Crab & Oyster Festival, held this Saturday from 6-9pm at the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House. We also hear the folks at Slow Food intend to show their guests a heck of a good time by including locally brewed beer and home-grown wine with dinner. Not only that, but you'll get to enjoy your plate of shellfish with live entertainment by SF's own acoustic blues outfit, Mighty Mississippi.

Other good things to know: attend this event and you'll have the chance to hear Zeke Grader from the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations speak along with Paul Johnson of Monterey Fish and California Senator Mark Leno. Wow, a Senator schlepping all the way to SF just to discuss crabs? Now that's what we call incentive.

Where: Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (953 De Haro Street)
When: Saturday, December 5
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
How Much: $65