Delaware Administrative Code
Title 7 - Natural Resources and Environmental Control
5000 - Division of Watershed Stewardship
7400 - Watershed Assessment Section
7402 - Shellfish Sanitation Regulations
Section 7402-1.0 - Introduction

International standards for shellfish (molluscan bivalves only) growing area water quality, as well as shellfish growing, harvesting, handling, and processing, are maintained by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC), administrative body of the National Shellfish Sanitation Program (NSSP). Adherence to these standards is a voluntary, cooperative effort by NSSP member states and foreign countries. Member states and countries allow shipment of shellfish into their jurisdictions only from other member states and countries that adhere to ISSC standards and practices. Delaware is an ISSC member, along with 27 other states, the District of Columbia, and nine foreign countries. The NSSP evolved from public health principles and program controls formulated at the original conference on shellfish sanitation called by the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service in 1925. Adherence to ISSC standards is administered under the auspices of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The purpose of these Regulations is to ensure that the shellfish harvested for any purpose from Delaware waters, and shellfish shipped to Delaware from beyond it's borders, are fit for human consumption - to protect the public health and safety. This "strategic theme" of Delaware's Shellfish Program is proscribed in the Environmental Partnership Agreement between Delaware's Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region III. Under this Agreement, key environmental problems and priorities are identified, and key goals established to address them. By protecting the health and safety of shellfish consumers, these Regulations also serve to promote and enhance Delaware's multi-million-dollar shellfish industry, protect the interests of recreational shellfish harvesters, keep as much shellfish ground open to harvesting as environmental conditions allow, and to broadly advocate clean water.

Consumer Warning: Certain people may be at risk of serious illness or death as a result of consuming raw molluscan shellfish, including those with liver disease (from hepatitis, cirrhosis, alcoholism, or cancer), Iron Overload Disease (hemochromatosis), diabetes, those with stomach disorders, including; but not limited to those with low stomach acid, those with immune system disorders, or those with any illness or medical treatment that weakens the body's immune system. Physicians recommend that those at risk not eat any clams, mussels, oysters, or scallops, and furthermore recommend that shellfish, if consumed by the at-risk population, be thoroughly cooked.