Photo by Erin Kohlenberg

If you were planning on hitting the oyster bar tonight, you may want to postpone that trip for a bit, especially if you are in the Pacific Northwest. Due to “reports of norovirus-like illnesses in people who report eating raw oysters from several areas in Washington and elsewhere,” the state of Washington has issued a recall of the bivalves from multiple growing areas.




The recall applies to a few areas, the largest of which is a three-mile stretch of commercial growing beds:

Over the past several weeks, small harvest closures and recalls have been ordered, the largest of which is in Hammersley Inlet in Mason County, where a recall has been issued for any shellfish harvested there since March 15. Smaller portions of the shellfish harvesting area were closed and shellfish recalled on March 2, April 4 and April 5.


Though three miles may not seem like that big of an area, it’s important to keep in mind that those beds are harvested by 31 different companies which, according to the recall, ship oysters to “many states and countries.” Norovirus comes with some pretty upsetting stomach issues, so stay safe out there and, if you simply must slurp down some oysters, please check with your fishmonger or server as to where exactly they came from.

Norovirus illnesses prompt inlet closure and shellfish recall | Washington State Department of Health via Food & Wine