I have just received this from my local abalone supplier. The recent oil spill in Santa Barbara has affected some 10 miles of shoreline in the area of Goleta, just north of Santa Barbara.
"To our Customers:
You are probably all aware of the recent oil spill on the Gaviota Coast as well as the tremendous effort that is taking place to clean up the spill and limit the damage to the environment. Fortunately, since we are a land based farm more than 5 miles from the spill site and draw seawater from a depth of 40 feet, we feel that our abalone are secure and protected in our tanks and we do not believe our abalone will be negatively affected by the spill. Our intake water is being tested daily for any signs of oil and we will continue to do so until we are sure there is no further chance of oil contamination to our abalone.
As they continue to assess the environmental damage from this spill, last Friday May 22 the California Department of Fish & Wildlife issued a commercial fishery closure for a 7 mile by 23 mile area which includes the location of our marine intakes. The closure is a procedural response to the oil spill and the resulting cleanup response, unfortunately we are deemed to be under that closure since our farm sits within that boundary. Therefore we are unable to ship any product to customers until we receive the "all clear" from the state regulators.
We know that you depend on our farm for product to serve your customers and we are anxious to resume sales as soon as possible; however we cannot do so until given clearance by the State and Federal agencies in charge of the cleanup response. Be assured we are working closely with these agencies to ensure our safe reopening at the soonest possible time.
We will be providing updates to you on a regular basis going forward to keep you closely advised as to when we can resume shipping product. We want to thank you for your patience as we all deal with the aftermath of this very tragic spill and we look forward to providing our premier live red abalone to you just as soon as possible.
Please don't hesitate to call with any questions. Thank you."
Doug Bush David Albaum
