Although there have been no outbreaks in Wareham, more than 50 local shellfishermen attended a forum at Wareham Library last Friday about how the state plans to deal with the spread of the vibrio bacteria in oysters.

Last year, 58 people in Massachusetts were sickened by consuming raw oysters contaminated with the bacteria known as vibrio. That was more than double the 27 cases investigated in 2012, which in turn was more than double the 13 cases in 2011.

Because of the outbreaks, two major harvesting areas were closed last summer in Duxbury Bay and Katama Bay.

"At the end of the summer the CDC was on the verge of declaring an East Coast epidemic," said Mike Hickey, the state's chief shellfish biologist.

"The point of today is to get your feedback in mind and how can the state, as regulators, local municipalities and the industry and come together and find a consensus," said Julian Cyr, director of policy and regulatory affairs with the state Department of Health.

Vibrio is an emerging, naturally occurring bacterial pathogen often found in oysters harvested from warmer waters and can rapidly reproduce in warmer weather. Vibrio can cause nausea, vomiting, fever and in rare cases hospitalization.

The state officials proposed a set of guidelines focused on icing the oysters as soon as possible after harvest and restricting rules for the handling, sorting and transport of oysters. The plan, which must be approved by the Federal Drug Administration, would be in effect from May 24 to Oct. 20.

But oyster harvesting in Wareham occurs mostly between November and March, according to Harbormaster Garry Buckminster. He said there were no vibrio outbreaks in Wareham last summer and no fisheries in Buzzards Bay were closed due to the bacteria.

"What's the saying," Buckminster said, "never eat an Oyster unless the month has an 'R' in it."

One local fisherman raised a question about quahogs, which are harvested year round according to Buckminster, and whether the area would be closed to harvesting quahogs if it had to be closed for a vibrio outbreak in oysters.

Hickey said that after an assessment from the state, areas for harvesting quahogs could be left open even if they are closed for oysters. But Hickey added that last summer in Connecticut, there were more cases of vibrio in quahogs than oysters.

The local harvester responded, "We've harvested probably 500 million quahogs over the last 30 years, and I've never heard of a case."

Cyr said the panel would come back in the spring once they have a control plan in place and approved by the FDA. He encouraged anyone with input to e-mail vibrio.feedback@state.ma.us.

Eric Hickey, the state vibrio plan coordinator, said, "Anything industry can do to demonstrate they're doing something better is certainly going to be considered."