Protect Our Shoreline

About Us

Protect our Shoreline is a non-profit 501(3)(c) corporation. We are an all volunteer organization--no individuals or board members in Protect Our Shoreline receive salaries or payments for services.

Board Members
Patrick Townsend, President
Kathryn Townsend, Vice President
Kathy Knight, Secretary/Treasurer

We are a group of shoreline properties owners who live on Zangle Cove in Boston Harbor, eight miles north of Olympia, Washington. We have watched in dismay as geoduck operators have leased private tidelands in our Cove and planted thousands of PVC pipe incubated geoducks. Boston Harbor's state of the art sewer system, implemented in 1990, has made aquaculture possible, because it has cleaned our water.

The tideland properties are not neat extensions of the upland properties and a marine survey is required to determine just where the tideland boundaries are and who owns them. In some cases, tidelands that are being offered for lease in Puget Sound are owned by absentee landlords who live in other states. They are not shocked one morning to wake up and find thousands of PVC pipes in front of their properties.

When we began investigating just what a geoduck farm is, we realized that this was an issue for the entire Puget Sound. We found other communities around the Sound, such as APHETI, Mayo Cove Shoreline Association, Save Our Shoreline and the Henderson Bay Shoreline Association, who were also battling permit applications for geoduck operations on privately leased tidelands. We found out that Thurston County did not even require a substantial development permit for this activity. As shoreline property owners we have to get a permit to build a bulkhead or build a stairway to the beach, but to lease our tidelands for a 43,500 per acre PVC forest required nothing.

Our concern became critical when a farm was proposed on a property that is part of a low bank, sandy beach community of high density. The curve of the beach meant that where that farm was planted, it would impact the entire neighborhood. The traditional use of the beach for recreational activities was a big concern, but more important was the possibility that if enough property owners were willing, the entire Cove could become an industrial zone and we believe that would environmentally destroy the Cove.

In April of 2006, shoreline neighbors on Zangle Cove met with the geoduck operator attempting to lease the additional parcel of tideland on our Cove. He claimed that he needed no substantial development permit and could not produce an independent environmental impact study on geoduck farming in the intertidal zone of Puget Sound. Since then, we have brought our concerns about this activity to the attention of Thurston County Planners. Shoreline Planners say that now a substantial development permit is required, but they will not take on the task of notifying the shellfish companies. They will only take action based on citizen complaints. We feel that the potential harm of this activity warrants a moratorium on the activity until an independent programmatic environment impact study on the intertidal/nearshore zone can be done.

Our Questions

Following are some of our unanswered questions:

What is the impact on the ecological balance of the intertidal and nearshore zones from large concentrations of a single species, monoculture geoducks?

Will this concentrated monoculture remove food that is needed by other species subsequently removing food for other marine animals and shore birds?

What is the long term effect of the extensive planting of geoduck monoculture on the native geoduck species? Will it create inbreeding, weakening and disease of the stock in the "incubator" of native stock, i.e., Puget Sound?

What are the effects of using antibiotics in the breeding hatcheries for the planted geoduck?

What is the effect of "clear-cutting" all the native geoducks given that recruitment in South Puget Sound may be as much as 85 years. "Harvesting Methuselah's Clams. Is the Geoduck Fishery Sustainable or Just Apparently So?"

What is the effect on the benthic layer when multiple acreage is emulsified by the harvesting devices?

What are impacts on the environment in terms of marine debris when netting becomes detached from the PVC pipe and when the PVC pipes break, float away or sink to the bottom?

What are impacts to the sedimentation and erosion of beach areas when large nets are left over entire geoduck farms to protect from predators?

What are the impacts to the predators--the marine birds and other marine animals who can no longer find food in these areas or where the food is diminished?

What are the hazards to surface water activities when the operators leave metal stakes and rebar in the sand to mark the property when they remove the PVC pipes?

What is the impact of these semi-permanent structures on sedimentation, wave action and water temperature?

What is the impact of extreme turbidity during harvest and how will it cause changes in sedimentation patterns and water temperature?

The shellfish industry promotes geoduck farming as an environmental benefit because they claim geoducks, as filter feeders "clean the water." If this is so, why is the State of Washington Department of Natural Resources allowing the harvesting of millions of pounds of geoduck per year from State owned subtidal land? Why are geoduck operators allowed to clear-cut the native geoducks from the privately leased intertidal lands?

Taylor Shellfish on its website makes the following suggestion regarding netting over manila clams: "Attach a tag with your name and address to facilitate return should it be dislodged and drift away." Our question: why are shellfish companies not required to put their name and address on their nets, rubber band, PVC pipe, etc. These object often become dislodged and drift away to other locations.

Send Comments

If you live in Thurston County and want to make comment to County officials, write or send email to:
Roger Giebelhaus, Thurston County Planner Address: 2617-A 12th Court SW, Olympia, WA 98502
Michael Welter, Director, Thurston County Development Services Address: 2617-A 12th Court SW, Olympia, WA 98502