Sometimes things that we take for granted in life change in a heartbeat. What we know to be true is no longer and we are left with memories. For many of us in the San Francisco Bay Area, fresh local seafood is an expected part of life.

There is no better meal than cracked Dungeness crab and sourdough bread eaten bayside near the fishing boats at Fishermen’s Wharf.

Unless, it’s a quick trip out to Drake’s Bay Oyster Company for freshly harvested oysters—some for dinner—and a few that simply must slide down my throat.

Neither will happen anytime soon. Last week the fully loaded container ship Cosco Busan set sail in heavy fog from the Port of Oakland to South Korea. Within minutes, it hit one of the support pilings of the Bay Bridge and sheared off approximately 100 feet of the bridge fender. While the bridge did not sustain any structural damage, the ship tore open at the bow and spilled 58,000 gallons of bunker oil in to San Francisco Bay.

You’ve probably seen the reports on CNN and the national news programs—just another disaster—unless you live here.

The spill is an ecological calamity rippling through our lives and the local economy like the tides and winds carrying the oil through the Golden Gate and up the north coast.

Officials closed beaches and sent an army of clean-up crews in protective gear to bag the gooey oil.

Over 500 oil-covered birds are confirmed dead with hundreds more being rescued and cared for.

Today, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered all commercial and recreational fishing in the San Francisco Bay Area halted until December 1, or when ever the Department of Fish and Game determines that it’s safe to eat the seafood again.

The Dungeness crab season is on hold meaning there will be no local, fresh crab for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday celebrations.

The Drake’s Bay Oyster Company that harvests over 100,000 oysters a day—3.6 million pounds per year—or 60 percent of the California oyster crop—was temporarily shut down by the State Board of Health because of the spill. If this goes on for any length of time, it could be the demise of this wonderful company.

The spill could also affect the herring, smelts, and several types of salmon.

I’ll keep you posted on the clean-up and celebrate its completion with a very fine Dungeness crab dinner—complete with chilled white wine—on a dock by the bay at twilight.