Quality Assurance

The shellfish tag is your most important piece of information when you receive your shellfish shipment.  This tag tells you who the dealer is, when the shellfish was harvested and when it was shipped.

The shellfish tag is the commonly accepted method of tracing the harvest area of shellfish in the event of illness. In theory the information on the tag is correct and as the product moves through the distribution channels the accuracy of the information remains intact. The FDA, the ISSC and state regulators have all agreed to this method of tracing shellfish. We advise that you know the people you are dealing with and read the tags carefully from every shipment of shellfish you receive.

1.   The original shippers company name and address.

2.  The original shippers interstate shellfish shippers license number. These license numbers are published in a monthly publication by the FDA. If the number is not in the book the shipment is illegal. The number is preceded by the State abbreviation. The number is followed by either RS which is a re-shipper; SS which is a shellfish shipper or SP which is a Shucker-Packer. Briefly, SS and SP can buy from fishermen and ship interstate. SP can also shuck shellfish. RS can only buy from SS or SP and have to reference their numbers on their tags when they ship interstate.

3. The harvest date is the date the shellfish were taken out of the water.

4.  After being harvested by either the fisherman or the grower, your shellfish is stored in our triple filtered, temperature controlled seawater system.  The Wet Storage Harvest Date reflects the exact day that we remove the product from the water to be packed and shipped to you.  Use this date to plan your future orders and monitor shelf life.

5. This is the location where the shellfish was harvested.  It is important for you to understand where your shellfish grow. For example, a Wellfleet oyster comes from Wellfleet, Massachusetts.  If you are getting Wellfleet's from any other harvest area, you are getting robbed!

6.  The type of shellfish should indicate the brand with the next line indicating the quantity. Knowing where the brand of shellfish is grown is critical to your buying decisions.

The regulations governing shellfish sales and handling are governed by the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, of which American Mussel Harvesters owner Bill Silkes, is an industry member.  If you would like more information on this organization and how they are protecting your health, click onto www.issc.org .

7. Due to an update in the Model Ordinance, this section has been changed from listing wet storage dates and locations to representing the Lot number of the product.  Lot number references the original source of the shellfish.  The “W” indicates that the product has been in wet storage in American Mussel Harvesters’ Restaurant Ready® Seawater System.  Next, the original shipper is indicated (i.e. RI234SS).  Last the original harvest date is     represented.  An example for this is WRI234SS010109.  This shows the product was wet stored, the original shipper is RI234SS and the original harvest date is 01/01/09.