Island County’s primary shellfish provider is suffering business setbacks as a shellfish ban goes into effect.

The one-stop shop for mussels, clams and oysters — Penn Cove Shellfish — supplies every restaurant and business you can think of, from Island County to Seattle to California and across the United States, Operations Manager Zane Malloy said. The business will be hindered for months while biotoxin levels in the water remain dangerously high.

This setback arose after blue mussels from Penn Cove were tested at 134 micrograms paralytic shellfish poison, or PSP, per 100 milligrams of shellfish Friday, Quinn Farr, an environmental health specialist from the Department of Natural Resources said in an email. Now, recreational harvesting of shellfish is banned in Penn Cove and Holmes Harb

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