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Geoduck farming in South Puget Sound. |
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October 30, 2008. $1.3 million geoduck fine? Robert McClure, The Seattle PI
October 30, 2008. State proposes to fine Taylor Shellfish $1.3 million for trespassing Robert McClure, The Seattle PI Blog
October 30, 2008. Shellfish grower may face fines. Taylor accused of using state-owned lands for profit. John Dodge, The Olympian
October 30, 2008. Taylor Shellfish may face fines from the state. Mason County Daily News, Dedrick Allan
October 29, 2008. Taylor Shellfish faces $1.3 million fine for cultivating shellfish on state tidelands in Totten Inlet. Kitsap Sun, Christopher Dunagan
October 27, 2008. Letter from Department of Natural Resources to Taylor Shellfish regarding potential fine for trespass of geoduck farming on state tidelands in Totten Inlet.
Our Comment:
Taylor's claim of ignorance of trespass on state tidelands are countered by the 1969 and 1979 deeds providing a clear property description of the oyster tract in question. Taylor's argument is further diminished through the wording in the 1979 deed on page 5 in Condition 6 that the purchaser (Taylor) had inspected the property and was satisfied with the boundaries described in the deed.
Additionally, the Totten Inlet residents' complaints both to Taylor and the state in 1997 put Taylor on notice that there was a problem. Taylor's claim that their encroachment was "unintentional" and/or "unknown" and/or "accidental" simply does not stand the test of common logic.
The original deed for sale of the property from the state in 1905 was provided by DNR to the Totten Inlet resident who complained about Taylor Shellfish encroachment on State tidelands in 1997.
Photo and earth map documentation with acreage calculations from June 2008 on Thurston County tideland parcel #93010401000 owned by Taylor United and state lands west and north of the parcel show the extent of the encroachment. According to a conversation with a reporter on 10/29/08, DNR is basing the fine for trespass related to geoduck culture on 17 acres of tideland after a formal survey of the property. Oyster culture on state land has not yet been assessed.
Photo documentation of the beach from local residents shows the state of the beach on Totten Inlet prior to the 1990's along with the state of the beach after the Taylor Shellfish expansion to geoduck and oyster bag culture in the mid 1990's.
DNR employees, who did not take seriously the complaints of Totten Inlet residents in 1997, are now saying that there is a 3 year statute of limitations on the encroachment. Because of this negligence, DNR should take care in the resolution of how the lands will be used in the future. It would be further negligence if DNR turns around and gives preference to Taylor Shellfish in any lease process or restoration effort.
Additionally, if the ignorance of the largest shellfish company in the country is this great, then the idea promoted by Taylor Shellfish in the Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee (SARC) that the industry can regulate itself through Best Management Practices, is clearly nonsense. Guidelines to counties for their Shore Master Program updates should include the requirement of surveys for all aquaculture operations, along with a permitting process that allows for environmental review and public comment.
October 19, 2008. Muddy Waters In Washington State's Puget Sound, the world's largest burrowing clam have spawned a battle. Audubon, November-December, 2008, Ted Stevens.
October 11, 2008. Shellfish growers still face uncertainty related to the 33 million settlement with the Tribes because the growers cannot identify all of their farm property. Kitsap Sun, Christopher Dunagan
Our comment:
This should not surprise anyone. No shoreline permits are required for shellfish aquaculture in Mason and Thurston Counties (where most of the shellfish farms are), the records from the Department of Health as of 1/8/08 did not in many cases include acreage or species, and the farm registration records from Department of Fish and Wildlife were "pieces of paper in a box." While growers were claiming that only 150 acres of geoducks existed in 2007, they filed documents to the Army Corps of Engineers in June 2007, that indicated over 10,000 acres had geoduck culture. Revisions to the Department of Ecology in 2008 subsequently claimed 350 acres of geoduck culture, though we have not seen proper documentation of this figure. At the same time, we now know that at least 16 acres of geoducks, oysters and manila clams farmed in Totten Inlet by Taylor Shellfish were not owned by the shellfish grower at all but were a trespass on state land and Taylor Shellfish has claimed that their trespass was "inadvertant." (See news stories below)
While the shellfish industry, and particularly Taylor Shellfish, continue to promote conversion of natural tidelands to shellfish aquaculture without any need for County permitting both through the courts and the agencies, citizens have requested that expansion of shellfish aquaculture be put on hold until an accurate inventory is made. Both accurate surveys and baseline studies of the areas that the industry wants to expand into should be part of a County level permitting process that requires environmental review and public comment.
September 20, 2008. Letter to the Olympian from Bill Dewey, spokesman in chief for Taylor Shellfish says that he is ready to supply research from Canada and US to address the environmental issues raised by Pierce County.
Our comment:
Bill Dewey is the same guy who has been saying, with some quantity of crocodile tears, that the illegal encroachment onto sixteen acres of state land for geoduck farming by Taylor Shellfish in Totten Inlet was inadvertent and Taylor is not to blame. Why should anyone believe anything Mr. Dewey says or any of the studies that he produces?
According to a posting on the Olympia Penninsula Environmental News blog by Al Bergstein, Board Member of People for Puget Sound, studies were produced for Jefferson County by Mr. Peter Downey (geoduck grower, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association representative, Jefferson County Commissioner and colleague of Bill Dewey). These studies are presumably the same studies that Mr. Dewey is going to produce for Pierce County. Mr. Bergstein states that "..the industry claims that many 'studies' have shown that there is nothing to worry about, however, this reporter has read through well over a hundred studies sent by Mr. Downey, and sees nothing in these studies that relate to the situation we find ourselves in here in Jefferson County." If the studies have no relevance for Jefferson County, then neither do they have relevance for Pierce County.
Krystal Kyer, Tahoma Audubon, in an Op-Ed in the Tacoma News Tribune on April 6, 2008, entitled Research will help us make aquaculture safe, sustainable. stated that "one of the themes found in Washington Sea Grant's draft literature review on geoduck aquaculture is that in an overwhelming number of instances, there is either little or no (or conflicting) peer-reviewed research on multiple facets of the geoduck aquaculture issue - including whether geoduck aquaculture helps or harms the environment. This ranges from diseases to genetics to birds to water quality."
The final version of the Sea Grant Geoduck Literature Review, prepared by University of Washington scientists, was published on January 25, 2008, confirms the lack of research on the issues surrounding geoduck farming.
September 16, 2008. Virtual Earth aerial photo shows that Seattle Shellfish has installed 1000+ plastic kiddie pools in Spencer Cove, Harstine Island, to grow geoduck seed. This calculates to approximately 28,000 square feet of plastic on the beach at this one location.
Jim Gibbons, President of Seattle Shellfish, is loudly and obsessively complaining about a faucet and drain in a small summer cabana, the equivalent of an outside faucet on a house, while at the same time promoting the activities you see in these photos as good for the health of Puget Sound.
July 4, 2008 Seattle Shellfish runs a tractor on the fragile tideland to install and maintain the 1000+ kiddie pool seed incubators. While the Puget Sound Partnership is set to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to protect Puget Sound, the shellfish industry is allowed to engage in this type of activity without permit, public comment or environmental review in Mason and Thurston Counties. These activities were characterized as "innovative" by the industry representative on the Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee.
September 12, 2008. In 2007, the shellfish industry publicly distanced itself from geoduck grower, Jim Gibbons, but do they back him behind the scenes?
Jim Gibbons, President of Seattle Shellfish, routinely distributes inflamatory communications with the apparent intention of personally discrediting those attempting to bring regulation to his industry.
A year ago, in a widely distributed letter, Gibbons spuriously attacked both the state legislator who had initiated the HB 2220 legislation and the citizen representatives on SARC (Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee). A letter of apology was issued by Robin Downey, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA), on August 21, 2008, who said: "..On behalf of the shellfish growing community, and the duly nominated shellfish representatives that on the SARC, please accept our apologies for any communications that have gone forward that were less than constructive. These communications did not come from the "industry" at all -- they were sent forward independently by a single individual, without the knowledge or concurrence of the rest of our group. We have strongly requested that these communications cease, (prior to this email), but please understand that we don't have the ability to control what any one particular individual chooses to communicate..."
Another email from Robin Downey to Tom Clingman, Department of Ecolocy, on August 23, 2007, obtained through a public records request, stated that "several of us have spoken to Jim about his emails and ardently requested that he cease sending out anything else ..." In the same email thread, Mr. Clingman states that he (Clingman) separately sent a response to one of the targets of Gibbon's defamatory emails "explaining that individuals may send such emails despite the intent of Ecology and the Committee participants," without any public rebuke from Ecology to Gibbons or the shellfish industry.
While Mr. Gibbons is now attempting to discredit the citizen representative on SARC in the eyes of People for Puget Sound (PFPS), in the fall of 2006, Gibbons was attempting to discredit People for Puget Sound in the eyes of everyone else, because PFPS had published an Intertidal Geoduck Policy. He accused PFPS, among other things, of betraying Taylor Shellfish, a contributor to PFPS, and of traipsing across Taylor's private property in Totten Inlet without permission--property we now know is owned by the State and has been illegally farmed by Taylor Shellfish in geoducks and oysters for at least 11 years. DNR has stated that the illegal encroachment was nearly 16 acres.
Ms. Downey and the industry may want to distance themselves from Gibbons publicly, but in fact, an email from the Taylor Shellfish attorneys to the Department of Ecology commends Mr. Gibbon's 2006 letter blasting PFPS, and reveals the close connection between Jim Gibbons and the rest of the shellfish industry. Additionally, a Seattle Shellfish employee is on the Board of PCSGA.
September 9, 2008. Lawsuit filed over proposed gravel mine expansion. Challenge could test protections for orcas. Seattle PI, Lisa Stiffler. Susan Gordon, The News Tribune. "This site on Maury Island is a very important part of Puget Sound habitat, and the project itself is a major example of exactly the kind of thing that needs to stop if we're going to restore the health of Puget Sound," said Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound.
Our Comment:
Kathy Fletcher's statement in the article that "the problem is they're trying to put an industrial project into an area that is essentially an unspoiled part of Puget Sound" is exactly the same argument citizens are putting forth in opposing unregulated expansion of industrial shellfish aquaculture into all viable beaches of South Puget Sound and Jefferson County. Totten Inlet beaches are already 90% filled with shellfish aquaculture--30 miles of beaches--without environmental review, public comment, and apparently without surveys as to the tidelands utilized based on the recent discovery of 16 acres of illegal farm trespass by Taylor Shellfish on state owned tideland.
September 5, 2008.County planners cite concerns about geoduck farming. Susan Gordon, The News Tribune
August 31, 2008. Jefferson County gets earful on geoduck issues in SMP. "After two years of collaborative work from over 20 people across all spectrum’s of Jefferson County, the Shoreline Master Program (SMP) seems to be caving in to pressure from one powerful member of the committee, Peter Downey, who with the help of his wife, a shellfish lobbyist, is forcing the county to rewrite agreed upon rules to suit their industry's demands." Al Bergstein, Olympic Peninsula Environmental News.
August 29, 2008. People for Puget Sound letter of concern about the aquaculture section in the draft Jefferson County Shoreline Master Program. The letter concludes that "...it is important that local governments and agencies take a precautionary approach to avoid adverse impacts to nearshore species and habitats."
August 29, 2008. State to fine Taylor Shellfish for using public aquatic lands in Totten Inlet. By Lisa Stiffler, Seattle PI.
August 29, 2008. Geoduck Dialog Continues Here, the Mason County Journal, Bill Burrows, Letter to the Editor. Local Harstine citizen speaks for Mason County property owners in opposing leasing of public beaches for geoduck aquaculture.
August 28, 2008. Claims About a Clam, Journal of Opinion, the Mason County Journal, discusses issues related to the DNR leasing program for geoduck aquaculture in Mason County.
August 28, 2008. Geoduck harvest back on again in Pierce County. County allows Taylor Shellfish to renew digs despite suit, objections. Susan Gordon, Tacoma News Tribune
August 18, 2008. Administrative decision from Pierce County allows Taylor Shellfish to harvest planted geoducks at the Foss farm in spite of permit expiration.
July 31, 2008. Taylor Shellfish, neighbors, state will talk about remedy Chester Allen, The Olympian.
July 23, 2008. Letter from Attorney General to Billy Plauche, GordonDerr LPP, attorney for Taylor Shellfish, discusses pending issues regarding the unresolved trespass on state-owned aquatic lands caused by Taylor's aquaculture operations in Totten Inlet.
July 23, 2008. Taylor Shellfish ceases harvest at Totten until issue can be resolved. Bill Taylor, Special to the Gateway. Mr. Taylor continues his protestations of innocence in the matter of several acres of trespass on state lands for shellfish aquaculture. He refers inquiries to his public relations consultant in Seattle, Gallatin Public Affairs.
July 23, 2008. Tideland boundary questions could be Pandora's Box, Christopher Dunagan, The Kitsap Sun.
Our Comment
Tideland boundary issues are complex because tidelands are not neat extensions of the upland properties and may exist separately from upland properties. To make it more complicated, when the tide is in, the waters are in the public trust and are not private waters. This points to one of the most serious problems related to the expansion of shellfish aquaculture into residential areas--the social impacts. Tideland boundaries were never an issue for most shoreline owners until shellfish employees (including Taylor Shellfish) started running people off the beaches, putting up no trespassing signs and engaging in lawsuits where shellfish industry lawyers claim that "if your kayak paddle hits the ground under the water, then you are trespassing." By these behaviors, the shellfish industry has made boundaries a big issue and has brought condemnation on itself.
July 22, 2008. Shellfish Company's Encroachment Raises State Revenue Questions. Christopher Dunagan, The Kitsap Sun.
July 21, 2008. Fines warranted if shellfish were farmed illegally The Olympian Editorial Board states: "If Taylor Shellfish made a mistake, company officials need to own up to the mistake, take responsibility for their actions and make restitution to the public by paying whatever fine is assessed against them."
Our Comment
In the November 1, 2007 Foss geoduck farm permit expiration hearing testimony (page 163), a Taylor Shellfish employee said Taylor Shellfish is a "good player" compared to another shellfish company that she characterized as a "bad player," making this one reason that a permit was not required for Taylor's Foss geoduck farm. She stated that "just because you have a regulation doesn't mean you have compliance, and it doesn't mean that you have everybody playing by the same rules." The recent revelation of extensive illegal encorachment onto state land by Taylor operations proves that permits are needed in Thurston County as well as Pierce County for all players, most particularly for Taylor Shellfish. A county permit process, which does not now exist in Thurston County, would allow for public comment, environmental review and conditions, such as a marine survey, on any approved activity.
July 19, 2008. Hearing in Thurson County Superior Court on the Taylor Shellfish/Pierce County Joint Motion for Consolidation of Entry and Settlement Agreement. Motion proposes terms for dropping Taylor Shellfish 25 million dollar damage claim against Pierce County in exchange for ability to harvest geoducks from the Foss Farm. The judge declined to approve the proposed settlement on procedural grounds -- that the matter was too complex to be decided without more study by him. The matter was re-scheduled.
But while the ruling was as said above, the Judge commented that he did not see how the parties could enter into a settlement that didn't include the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat.
Pierce County Reply to Motion
Taylor Shellfish Reply to Motion
Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat Reply to Motion
North Bay Partners Reply to Motion
Letter to Judge from Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat
Letter to Judge from North Bay Partners
July 18, 2008. Four letters to the editor of the Seattle PI: two letters chastizing the PI for the article on the illegal encroachment of Taylor Shellfish on state tideland, and two letters thanking the PI.
Our Comment
Supporters of the shellfish industry continually mislead by stating that the number of people who question the practices of the industry are a small vocal group. In fact, entire communities have been working on this issue, communities in Totten Inlet, Harstine Island, Anderson Island, Stretch Island, Thurston County, Henderson Bay, Case Inlet and Shine Beach. The tragedy is that people have to go to such lengths to get local government to do the right thing--in this case, bring regulation to an industry that is "one of the last unregulated industries in the country", words from Jim Gibbons, President of Seattle Shellfish, in a letter dated March 15, 2007.
July 16, 2008. Geoduck farming is not good for the environment. Kris Mansfield, Letter to the Editor, The Olympian
July 15, 2008. Taylors were early leaders in protecting Puget Sound. Gail Taylor respond to Totten Inlet trespass issue, Letter to the Editor, Seattle PI.
Our Comment:
We agree that saving Puget Sound requires partnership, but for partnerships to occur, there must be an acceptance by all parties that there are different viewpoints on how the tidelands of Puget Sound should be used. We accept that Taylor wants clean water so tidelands can be economically productive. We request Taylor accept that citizens would like a say in the siting of shellfish acquaculture operations in their communities and that tidelands are minimally impacted. Perhaps then a true partnership will evolve.
July 14, 2008. Taylor Shellfish/Pierce County Joint Motion for Consolidation of Entry and Settlement Agreement. Motion proposes terms for dropping Taylor Shellfish 25 million dollar damage claim against Pierce County in exchange for ability to harvest geoducks from the Foss Farm.
July 13, 2008. Taylor Shellfish speaks out after tidelands survey.
--Staff and Wire Report, The Olympian.
Our Comment
The Olympian, for a long time, has appeared to be an apologist for Taylor Shellfish complementing the "do nothing about this for now" mentality of the Thurston County Commissioners as regards regulation of the shellfish industry on a County level.
Where's the in depth story here? Thurston County is the "scene of the crime," yet the Olympian took the very good PI article, changed the headline, removed comments by Bill Dewey, chief spokesperson for Taylor, mentions that the actions of Taylor were unintentional no less than three times and fails to use the term "illegal," a term used in the headline of the Seattle PI story. All this has the effect of watering down the implications of the illegal actions and helping Taylor Shellfish promote itself as a victim. Taylor has its hands in the million dollar cookie jar but states that they won't be fined because it was unintentional. This defense only serves to support the efforts by many communities to bring regulation to the industry.
July 12, 2008. State's largest shellfish company illegally used public waters:
Encroachment likely brought Taylor Shellfish millions in revenue.
--Drew Harwell, Seattle PI.
Bill Dewey states in the article: "I don't feel like we're getting away with anything," he said. "We're no different than any other business community anywhere. ... If we're guilty of something, I don't know what it would be."
Our comment:
Mr. Dewey appears to be saying that being ignorant of the boundaries of the business property and reaping millions from unauthorized use of land owned by others is the norm for busnesses. We think that is preposterous and that most other business owners would take exception to this characterization.
--Mr. Dewey should take responsibility for the actions of his company, rather than play the victim.
--Since Taylor Shellfish is pleading ignorance, all of their geoduck and oyster operations should be surveyed and audited by DNR to determine if there is additional encroachment. A Taylor Shellfish farm manager testified in the Pierce County hearing in Nov-Dec 2007 that Taylor has 56 geoduck operations in South Puget Sound.
July 10, 2008. Tide is turning for two Taylor Shellfish farms: Local resident, DNR, county all reviewing geoduck activities. The Peninsula Gateway, Paige Richmond. In the article, Rick Doenges, Aquatic Resources Division Manager for the DNR, "confirms that any mistake on Taylor Shellfish's part is 'an unintentional occupation' and said that the company is 'reputable.'" What Mr. Doenges does not say is that DNR itself has irresponsibly failed to properly manage state lands. It is completely inappropropriate for a DNR employee to be advocating for a private corporation in a situation where the corporation has engaged in illegal activity. Although Bill Dewey is obviously attempting to minimize the damage, this is not just a little mistake and both DNR and Taylor Shellfish should be held accountable for it.
July 10, 2008. Geoduck aquaculture should be debated. Donald Stave in a letter to the editor of The Olympian, responds to Robin Downeys earlier comments in the Olympian. Robin Downey, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Associations, declines Don's offer to a public debate.
July 9, 2008. Taylor Shellfish illegal encroachment onto approximately 25-30 acres of state lands in Totten Inlet brings a call for an investigation by the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat.
--1997 Letter from DNR to Totten Inlet resident detailing leasing activity on State land next to the Taylor United parcel #93010401000 along with the original 1905 deed for the parcel itself.
--Photo and earth map documentation with acreage calculations on Thurston County tideland parcel #93010401000 owned by Taylor United and state lands west and north of the parcel.
--Letter from the State Auditor to Henderson Bay Shoreline Association states that "we were informed by the Department (DNR) that the company (Taylor Shellfish) had stopped planting additional shellfish and had ceased harvesting activity on the area in question until the boundary issues are resolved."
--Email from DNR aquatic lands staff confirms that "there are some
areas of state-owned aquatic lands that are occupied with unauthorized geoduck and oyster cultivation."
--Letter from Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat to DNR enforcement officer details that residents of Totten Inlet requested an investigation as early as 1997 and again requests an investigation. In addition, the letter asks that:
1) all planted geoducks, oysters and clams on state lands should become the property of the state and revenues
from the sale of these shellfish should be used for restoration of Totten Inlet for forage fish and salmon;
2) all past revenue generated off these state lands should be repaid to the state along with the statutory penalties and fines;
3) Taylor Shellfish be held accountable for the illegal poaching of wild geoducks;
4) an investigation be started on all state lands adjacent to parcels owned or leased by Taylor Shellfish to assure citizens that other state land's native shellfish are not being poached and lease and production revenues are not being avoided.
--Email from Bill Taylor, President of Taylor Shellfish, denies intentional wrongdoing, confirms that Taylor has been illegally conduting business on state land since 1972, and implies that Taylor Shellfish is the victim.
--Email from the Coalition to the State Auditor's chief investigator requests a financial and performance audit of DNR's aquatic division to insure that they are properly discharging all of their duties on behalf of the citizens of the state of Washington, and that Taylor cease illegal harvest and removal of evidence of encroachment on State land.
--Subsequent telephone communication with the DNR investigator detailed in the above letter reveals that DNR aquatic staff is "working out" the issue with Taylor Shellfish without asking for an investigation, that the situation is "under control" and that they had worked out with Taylor that the oysters on state lands could be moved to other private tidelands because the oysters were getting too big.
Our comment:
Whether the encroachment onto 25-30 acres of state land was intentional or unintentional makes no difference--it is still illegal. Ignorance is not a defense. It is hard to understand how Taylor Shellfish, one of the the largest shellfish companies in the country, who has farmed here for decades according to their own history, is unaware of how much one acre covers on the shoreline or that their total farming on the specific parcel in Totten Inlet and next to it on State land exceeds by nearly 200% the number of acres of the actual parcel.
Additionally in the December 13, 2007 Pierce County hearing on the Taylor Shellfish appeal of the permit expiration on the Foss farm in Pierce County, the Taylor Shellfish Farm Manager stated during testimony:
Dec 13, 2007, Pages 96-97, DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KISIELIUS:
Q Does Taylor keep records of the exact location of the geoduck beds?
A Yes. We GPS our geoduck beds.
Q You GPS the coordinates?
A Yes.
Q And when did you begin recording the GPS coordinates of the geoduck beds?
A I believe we got our GPS unit in 2004.
Q So what did you do in 2004?
A We started GPSing all the previous plantings on the Foss farm: the 2001, 2002, and so on.
Q And since 2004, have you continued that practice?
A Yes, we have.
DNR is apparently doing its best to work out a behind the scenes deal with Taylor Shellfish without an investigation. We ask that a formal investigation be conducted by DNR enforcement to ascertain the extent and duration of illegal activity on state lands and to determine monies owed to the state and the citizens of the state.
Additional facts:
--The Taylor Shellfish parcel in question #93010401000 is not listed as certified for harvest on the Department of Health shellfish certification list, despite the fact that harvesting according to Bill Taylor's letter, has occurred there since 1972.
--The Taylor Shellfish parcel in question #93010401000 did not appear as part of the 2007 public records request to the Army Corps of Engineers for NWP 48 Existing shellfish forms which included geoduck culture. These forms were required to be filed with the ACOE by the end of June 2007. Taylor Shellfish has planted and harvested geoduck on the state lands next to their parcel since approximately 1997.
--June 27, 2007 email from Army Corps of Engineers confirms that Taylor Shellfish encroached on State land in Henderson Inlet and was forced by DNR to remove tubes planted for geoduck farming.
--In April 2006, a small geoduck operator held a neighborhood meeting in Boston Harbor to promote geoduck farming, stating that a marine survey would be done before a farm was put in. Yet it is only now, in 2008 after farming illegally for 36 years, when prompted by a citizen request to the State Auditor, that Taylor Shellfish performs a survey of its property and that DNR is forced to take an interest in what is happening on the public tidelands that it is charged with managing.
--June 7, 2008. Taylor Shellfish continues to illegally harvest on lands believed to be outside the boundaries of their property.
July 2, 2008. The unfortunate, but predictable consequence of the expansion of industrial shellfish aquaculture in Puget Sound is the tearing apart of neighborhoods and communities and the pitting of neighbor against neighbor. The letter from attorney Jerry Kimball to the neighbors to the north of the Taylor Shellfish Foss geoduck farm gives an example of what is in store for shoreline communities, especially when adjacent neighbors try to speak out about aquaculture impacts to Puget Sound and their neighborhood. The geoduck operation managers and the private owners alike become the beach police.
June 27, 2008. David Dicks, Executive Director of the Puget sound Partnership states that part of the mission of the Puget Sound Partnership is to "promote products." Mr. Dicks had been questioned about a promotional for Taylor Shellfish in the Puget Sound Partnership newsletter. Last we looked, the mission of the Puget Sound Partnership was "to restore Puget Sound's health by 2020." Our request to David Dicks to provide documentation about the new "mission to promote products" has gone unanswered.
June 26, 2008. The Olympian Letters to the Editor regarding geoduck aquaculture.
--Jules Michel writes regarding the David Jamison article on sandy beach habitat, which is important for marine life.
Mr. Michels comments that these sandy beach habitats are the very ones being converted to intensive industrial geoduck farms.
--Robin Downey, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Associates calls Mr. Michel "disingenuous." (Calling citizens "disingenuous" appears to be a favorite namecalling tactic of the shellfish industry representatives.)
--Bill Burrows, Harstine Island resident asks Ms. Downey for an apology.
Our comment: Robin Downey makes a false argument in her criticism of the comments by Jules Michel about the impacts of industrial geoduck farming on the tidelands. She claims it's a choice between shellfish farming and development. Maybe she should ask her husband, Peter Downey, Jefferson County Commissioner and geoduck grower, why he voted last year to approve a massive new development in Brinnon on Hood Canal. Mr. Michels, the person Ms Downey criticizes, on the other hand, put many acres of his private timberland on Grays Harbor into a conservation easement in order to preserve it from development.
Many citizens are from families who have lived in the Puget Sound region for generations and take exception to Ms. Downey's gratuitous attempt to paint us as rich landowners who only care about our view. We care deeply about Puget Sound--the one we grew up with. It is the shellfish companies who are the greedy ones--wanting to permanently convert both public and private tidelands into geoduck feedlots so as to export thousands of pounds of geoducks, alive in water, as a luxury food item to foreign markets. Just imagine the carbon footprint of that little operation. And try walking on the beach when Taylor Shellfish takes it over.
June 26, 2007. On Al Bergstein's Olympia Peninsula Environmental News Blog, Peter Downey, geoduck grower and representative of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, laments the "potential" that live aboard boats in Mystery Bay might spread the Norwalk virus, even though no fecal coliform has been found by DOH. Yet Mr. Downey says nothing about the "potential" for spillages from the Marrowstone Shellfish Company also located in the bay:
Jules Michels writes:
What "might happen" if one of the 17+ vehicles parked on the shoreline leaked oil?
What "might happen" if one of the boats moored at the dock discharges its bilge (and is it a marina)?
What "might happen" if the many shellfish processing facilities dotting the shorelines of Puget Sound have similar "potential"?
And, what "might happen" if the truck facility across the highway spills diesel into the adjacent wetland, it floods, and spills into Mystery Bay?
Many things have the potential to impact Puget Sound and its tidelands. The shellfish industry driving the "potential" of moored boats in Mystery Bay to the level it is might be better directed elsewhere, perhaps on itself.
June 13, 2008. Letter from Taylor Shellfish attorneys stating their intention to appeal the amended decision by the Pierce County Hearings Examiner.
June 12, 2008. Amended decision from the Pierce County Hearings Examiner in the Taylor Shellfish Foss geoduck farm appeal.
May 30, 2008. Order from the Thurston County Superior Court confirms that the initial proceeding will be before the Shorelines Hearings Board, not in court. Taylor Shellfish filed their appeal in both jurisdictions.
May 30, 2008. Aerial photos of Taylor Shellfish farm in North Bay and a Seattle Shellfish farm in Spencer Cove, both in Case Inlet, demonstrate how privately owned tidelands have been converted to permanent agricultural use in Mason and Thurston Counties without any permitting process or regulation. Some tidelands are leased from private owners and some are owned outright by the shellfish corporations.
The shellfish industry is now attempting to expand operations in Pierce County and Taylor Shellfish is appealing a Pierce County Hearing Examiner's Decision that affirms that the permit for the Foss geoduck farm has expired and that Taylor must obtain a substantial shoreline development permit for their geoduck farm every five years. See below for additional legal documents.
Documents that help to identifify locations of shellfish farms.
--Department of Ecology listing of ACOE NWP 48 existing shellfish operations that include geoduck aquaculture as of 6/29/07.
--Compilation of ACOE NWP 48 existing geoduck farms in Mason, Thurston and Pierce Counties from public records request to the Army Corps of Engineers as of 9/07.
--WA Department of Health water certification listing for shellfish harvest as of 1/8/08, obtained from public records request to the DOH and compiled by Protect Our Shoreline.
Locate parcels and maps at these Thurston and Mason County websites:
--Thurston County geodata and parcel maps
--Mason County geodata and parcel maps
May 25, 2008. Geoduck farming's drawbacks require careful permit process. Taylor Shellfish owner Bill Taylor's characterization of his geoduck-farming industry as a benign force in Puget Sound is disputed. Tacoma News Tribune, Richard Wooster, Letter to Editor of the Gateway, published April 13, 2008.
May 23, 2008. Most islanders oppose exploiting public beaches for DNR leasing of commercial geoduck operations. Bill Burrows, The Tacoma News Tribune.
May 14, 2008. Studies show geoduck farming hurts intertidal zones of Sound. Curt Puddicombe, Special to the Gateway
May 5, 2008. Sandy beach habitat provides a "dramatic increase in life" such as "little-neck clams, green sea lettus, red seaweed called Nori, amphipods..." The Olympian, David Jamison.
Sandy beaches on Puget Sound are the precise areas that the shellfish industry desires for commercial shellfish aquaculture. The sandy beach habitat was described by a representative of Taylor Shellfish at a Key Peninsula geoduck forum in May of 2007 as "barren."
May 5, 2008. Video presentations from the Harstine and Stretch Island meeting with Department of Natural Resources and Department of Ecology about DNR leasing public beaches for commercial geoduck farming.
May 2, 2008. Citizen requests for documentation from DNR scientists related to the impacts of geoduck farming leases on forage fish have brought a consistent response from DNR that "our scientists have looked at the forage fish issue and determined that there would be a minimal interaction between the geoduck aquaculture methods and forage fish (sand lance and surf smelt)." Francea McNair, Aquatic Lands Steward, August 11, 2006.
After many public records requests, citizens finally learn in a letter from DNR in April 2008 that the the source for the DNR scientists' determination was merely a review of the WDFW website, not scientific studies. We continue to be astonished by the the apparently amateurish and unprofessional use of unnamed scientists in DNR to support the conversion of the fragile tidelands of Puget Sound to commercial agricultural use.
May 1, 2008. DNR eyeing public beaches for geoduck farming. Public hears plans for local aquaculture Susan Schel, The Gateway
April 26, 2008. Taylor Shellfish Proposed Legal Issues and Witness Exhibit List for their appeal of the Pierce County ruling before the Shoreline Hearings Board. If it is determined that the SHB is the proper jurisdiction for this appeal, as opposed to Superior Court, all witnesses, exhibts and arguments heard during the four day proceeding heard before the Piece County Heaings Examiner, who ruled against Taylor, will be revisted.
The SHB hearing to determine jurisdiction is waiting the Pierce County Hearings Examiner's reconsideration on his decision related to wording in the decision about which shoreline designation the Foss farm has been given. Ty Booth, Pierce County Planner, has written a Letter to the Hearings Examiner stating that the County reserves the right to review any new applications for the Foss site "in accordance with the correct shoreline environment as set forth in the Pierce County Shoreline Master Program." The Hearings Examiner Decision has required Taylor Shellfish to submit a new application for the project.
April 26, 2008. Talk about your 'Dirty Jobs.' Tacoma News Tribune Blog, Kim Bradford. Editorial blog regarding the controversy over the Taylor Shellfish/Foss geoduck farm. Includes comments problem solving from Jules Michel, Shelton.
April 25, 2008. 120+ citizens from Harstine and Stretch Islands speak out about DNR leasing public beaches for commercial geoduck farming.
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Harstine citizens speak out on DNR leasing |  |
DNR income from aquatic leasing. |  |
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April 16, 2008. Taylor Shellfish Petition for Review to the Shoreline Hearings Board of the Pierce County Hearings Examiner decision on the Foss geoduck farm. Taylor has filed both an appeal in Suprior Court and this petition to the Shoreline Hearings Board.
April 16, 2008. Taylor Shellfish keeps beach property cleaner than its previous state: a response to the Pierce County Hearings Examiner decision from the owner of the Foss property where Taylor Shellfish has installed a geoduck farm on a 12 acre, one mile long track of beach. Leslie Foss, The Gateway.
Ms. Foss states that the geoduck farm is the means to pay taxes on the 126 acre parcel so the family doesn't have to sell the land to developers. According to Pierce County tax records, the Foss family owns three waterfront parcels totalling 53 acres taxed at a total of $8,854 for 2008 and 80 acres of upland property taxed at $98 in 2008.
According to the post-hearing Taylor Shellfish brief, Taylor currently has over 20 millions dollars worth of unharvested geoducks in the ground on the Foss tideland. The usual cut for the property owner is 10% of the gross. Since we believe that geoducks were not planted in 2007, the current amount represents age classes for approximately four years of harvest, which makes the cut to the property owners $500,000 per year or a total of $2,000,000. Taylor intends to plant this farm in perpetuity.
If Ms. Foss truly wanted to save the land from developers, why did she turn the tidelands over to perpetual commercial development rather than put the land into a conservation easement? The conservation easement would have reduced both property and estate taxes. Instead, Ms. Foss apparently wanted to retain the ability to sell the upland property to developers in the future, something a conservation easement would prohibit. Though we think that Ms. Foss's intentions to preserve the upland in its natural state are laudable, we question the vehicle she chose for doing it.
April 16, 2008. Taylor Shellfish Petition for Review to the Shoreline Hearings Board of the Pierce County Hearings Examiner decision on the Foss geoduck farm. Taylor has filed both an appeal in Suprior Court and this petition to the Shoreline Hearings Board.
April 16, 2008. Taylor Shellfish appeal in Thurston County Superior Court to the Pierce County Hearings Examiner decision on the Foss geoduck farm.
April 15, 2008. Taylor Shellfish re-application for Foss geoduck farm.
April 15, 2008. Beachside Homeowners Clash with Sea Farmers. KPLU audio, Austin Jenkins
April 11, 2008. Parties sound off on geoduck ruling. Pierce County Examiner says Taylor Shellfish permit has expired. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Schell, Gig Harbor Gateway.
April 11, 2008. Taylor backed Pierce County into a corner and lost. Laura Hendricks, Letter to Editor, Tacoma News Tribune.
April 11, 2008. Taylor Shellfish has right to pursue appeal. Jim Gibbons (Seattle Shellfish), Letter to Editor, Tacoma News Tribune.
April 6, 2008. Research will help us make aquaculture safe, sustainable. Krystal Kyer, Tahoma Audubon, in an Op-Ed in the Tacoma News Tribune, states that "one of the themes found in Washington Sea Grant's draft literature review on geoduck aquaculture is that in an overwhelming number of instances, there is either little or no (or conflicting) peer-reviewed research on multiple facets of the geoduck aquaculture issue - including whether geoduck aquaculture helps or harms the environment. This ranges from diseases to genetics to birds to water quality."
The final version of the Sea Grant Geoduck Literature Review, prepared by University of Washington scientists, was published on January 25, 2008, constrasts with statements made by Bill Taylor of Taylor Shellfish in his April 1, 2008 Op-Ed article that "considerable research has shown that the environmental issues raised by these opponents are unfounded and that geoduck farming does not harm the environment."
April 5, 2008. Ugly clams spawn even uglier fight. Tacoma News Tribune.
April 4, 2008. Based on their Letters to the Editor, Bill Taylor of Taylor Shellfish and Robin Downey, Executive Director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, apparently both failed to read Condition 5 of the 2000 Pierce County permit for the Taylor-Foss geoduck operation.
Condition Five of the 2000 Taylor-Foss geoduck farm permit states:
If a project for which a permit has been granted pursuant to the Act has not been completed within five (5) years after the approval of the permit by local government, the local government that granted the permit shall, at the expiration of the five (5) year period, review the permit, and upon a showing of good cause do either of the following:
(1) Extend the permit for one(1) year; or
(2) Terminate the permit, provided that nothing herein shall preclude local government from issuing Substantial Development Permits with a fixed termination date of less than five (5) years.
This is only an eight page permit and there were only five (5) conditions, so this condition would have been hard to miss with even a cursory review of the permit.
April 2, 2008. Geoduck lawsuit in the works? The attorneys for Taylor Shellfish, Gorden Derr, make mamouth document request from Pierce County related to geoduck aquaculture and the Taylor Foss geoduck farm. Tacoma News Tribune, Dave Wickert.
March 31, 2008. Shellfish industry surrogate resorts to namecalling in an article entitled "NIMBY Stupidity" on intrafish.com, an organization calling itself "the global leader in seafood industry news." In both the interfish.com article and the recent Tacoma News Tribune article about the recent Pierce County ruling against Taylor Shellfish, it is clear that the issue is money. Good. We are glad that Taylor is finally calling a spade a spade rather than trying to sell us on the idea that installing 43,000 PVC pipes per tideland acre and then liquefying the entire area 3 feet in depth is going to help save Puget Sound. A shoreline property owner responds.
March 30, 2008. In a recent advertisement posted to the non-profit section of Craig's List, Taylor Shellfish seeks a new face to convince citizens, agencies and elected officials that Taylor should be able to turn as many tideland acres as possible to profit in South Puget Sound. Instead of Taylor standing on its past reputation, and people supporting Taylor because of that reputation, a PR firm, Gallatin Group, has been asked to recruit an internal marketing person to create a "reputation" and form what sounds like a shellfish army.
The job description includes "recruitment and training of local citizens to support shellfish aquaculture activities in Pierce, Thurston and Mason Counties. Responsibilities also include working with local regulatory agencies on shoreline management issues, working with local elected officials, attending community meetings and providing public presentations, organizing turn-out and letter writing campaigns for public hearings, monitoring media coverage and organizing op-ed and letters-to-the-editor campaigns, and leading educational site visits of Taylor operations."
The salary for this new position will apparently be offset by the $60,000 savings in labor costs resulting from implementation of Microsoft systems described in the Microsoft Business case study on Taylor Shellfish.
In this case study, Taylor claims to be the West Coast's largest producer of clams, oysters, mussels and geoducks on on over 12,000 acres worldwide. Yet according to a 6/29/07 list of Army Corp of Engineer "existing shellfish aquaculture" submissions obtained through a public records request from the Department of Ecology, Taylor Shellfish is claiming geoduck culture on 9,475 acres of existing commercial shellfish acreage in Puget Sound and Willapa Bay, including, for example, large tracks in Oakland Bay, Chapman Cove, and Bayshore/John's Creek in Mason County. This figure does not include any additional acreage for mussels, clams and oysters without geoduck culture. At the same time Taylor is claiming publicly they have a mere 150 acres of intertidal geoduck aquaculture.
What is the truth? The Department of Ecology claims the 6/29/07 document is only a "working document," yet we are still waiting for the revised figures of the ACOE geoduck submissions that will confirm and correlate to the 150 acres claimed by Taylor Shellfish. This request was made to the Department of Ecology at the Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee meeting by the citizen representative during the November 2006 SARC meeting.
March 28, 2008. Geoduck harvest suddenly in limbo. Pierce County Hearings Examiner rules against Taylor Shellfish in a Pierce County Administrative appeal. Taylor must obtain a substantial shoreline development for their 12 acre Foss geoduck farm on Case Inlet and their original five year permit has expired. Taylor says they will appeal because of the $15-20 million in geoducks growing on the farm. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon
Please note that most geoduck product is shipped live to the Asian market as a luxury food item. Read the 2004 economic study on the world wide geoduck market commission by the Washington state Department of Natural Resources. DNR is in the process of leasing up to 250 acres of state owned public tidelands to commercial geoduck interests over a 10 year period. Go to the DNR geoduck aquaculture website to view maps of public tidelands designated in 2006 and 2007 for DNR leases.
March 27, 2008. Scientists: Puget Sound species in decline as pollution increases.The Olympian, John Dodge. This article mentions the fact that South Puget Sound is "slow to flush." According to a Department of Ecology engineer, "it takes 56 days for South Sound to fill with a fresh supply of water." In the recent Pierce County hearing a Taylor Shellfish scientist stated that he "wouldn't agree at all" that Puget Sound is considered a low-flushing area and failed to make a distinction regarding "South Puget Sound," where almost all current shellfish aquaculture is located.
Dr. Jeffrey Fisher, who testified on behalf of Taylor Shellfish in the recent Pierce County hearing, reviewed the preliminary findings of British Columbia scientist, Dr. Chris Pearce, at the March 26, 2008 South Sound Symposium. Dr. Fisher incorrectly characterized Dr. Pearce's study, stating erroneously that there are NO IMPACTS to the "bigger questions of forage fish, culture practices, turbidity and natural distribution." Dr. Pearce stated in his 2007 testimony to the Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture that "we haven't really looked at commercial-scale potential impact" and that "we need to conduct more research on potential impacts on nearby sensitive habitat, like eelgrass and kelp beds. Nobody has looked at this yet."
Additionally the shellfish industry jargon used to describe harvest methods as a garden hose loosening the sediment, is more accurately described by Dr. Pearce in his testimony: "They're harvested with these high-pressure water jets or stingers. They need to use these in order to liquefy the sand in order to pull up the adult clams. You simply can't grab hold of the siphon and pull them out without liquefying the sediment first." In testimony Dr. Pearce pointed to a photograph of a geoduck harvester and stated, "This shows the extraction process in the intertidal. You can see the fellow on the left there. He's almost waist-deep in sediment. He's using the high-powered water jet or stinger to liquefy the sediment and pull up the clams. It's a fairly disruptive process. You're liquefying the sediment down to a depth of a metre or more."
March 27, 2008. British Columbia subtidal geoduck farm application denied. The submission by Discovery Diving Ltd., for a geoduck clam sub-tidal facility proposed off Wilson Creek on the Sunshine Coast, was denied. Amongst other factors, the site was rejected due to the sensitive habitat designation of the area. From BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands bulletin.
March 26, 2008. Pierce County Hearing Examiner's Decision denies the Taylor Shellfish appeal. The decision affirms that the permit for the Foss geoduck farm has expired and that Taylor must obtain a substantial shoreline development permit for their geoduck farm every five years.
February 18, 2008. Canadian shellfish safety monitoring poor, report says. Information about regulations for shellfish safety in Washington State can be found on the Washington State Department of Health Shellfish and Water Protection website.
March 13, 2008. Sierra Club Weighs in on Geoducks. Shelton-Mason County Journal, John Cooper.
March 1, 2008. Sierra Club Article: Geoduck Action Plan. Discusses issues surrounding the use of public tidelands for commercial geoduck farming. Published in the Cascade Chapter Sierra Club Newsletter. Article written by Stan Moffet.
March 11, 2008. Example of Geoduck Aquaculture Lease submitted by Sarah Dzinbal, DNR to the SARC.
March 3, 2008. Limit aquaculture to 5% of R.I. waters, experts say. Fish Farmer Magazine, March 2008
March, 2008. Invasive Species: what we do. Marine invaders. This Nautre Conservancy study "confirms the role of aquaculture operations such as non-native fish and shellfish farming in marine invasions. Stricter, industry-wide control measures should be developed and enforcement strengthened to restrict intentional and accidental introductions of harmful invasive species."
February 28, 2008. New DNR Geoduck Aquaculture Webiste is live. DNR is now showing links to maps for both 2006 and 2007 geoduck lease sites. Fill out this DNR Opinion Survey and mail to DNR.
January 30, 2008. World Wildlife Fund releases 1/8/08 updated draft principles for creating standards for shellfish aquaculture in the US. Please make comment to Colin Brannen, World Wildlife Fund
Excerpt from Molluscan Dialog Discussion Document:
"There was discussion of frustration over the NIMBY issue again, particularly as many felt large coastal homes and related development issues were contributing much more significantly to the degradation of the local waterways through sewage, run-off, and habitat modification. It was suggested that such homeowners be required to show the impact of their house vs. the impact of a shellfish farm -- then it could be decided which use has more of a right to exist in an area."
We once again point out the hypocrisy of the shellfish industry. Peter Downey, geoduck grower and representative of Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association stated on September 10, 2007 to the Pierce County Council that 'the biggest threat to Puget Sound is not shellfish aquaculture--it's upland development.' Then he turns around and as a Jefferson County Planning Commissioner Downey votes to recommend approval of a huge new development in Brinnon on Hood Canal.
January 23, 2008. Task force to look at shoreline regulations Peninsula Gateway, Marques Hunter
January 22, 2008. Parties to the Appeal of Taylor Shellfish to the Pierce County Administrative Determination submit post-hearing briefs and proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. Hearing Examiner will rule in late February, 2008.
--Coalition to Preserve Puget Sound Habitat Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
--Coalition to Preserve Puget Sound Habitat Post Hearing Memorandum
--Pierce County Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law
--Taylor Shellfish Post Hearing Brief and Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of law.
--North Bay (Foss Family) Post Hearing Brief.
Called a "water jet" in the Geoduck Growers Environmental Codes of Practice, Taylor Shellfish now refers in their closing brief to the water jet as a "hose:" "Taylor employees make their way through a geoduck bed in rows, using a hose to loosen substrate around the geoduck and extract it from the tideland."
Taylor continues to claim in testimony that "the harvested area returns to a normal state within one to two tidal cycles after harvest", contradicting the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association paper, Geoduck Farming is Good for Washington State, that says "the beach recovers over a period of weeks to months depending on the time of year and location," as well as the Sea Grant Draft Effects of Geoduck Aquaculture on the Environment: A Synthesis of Current Knowledge that states "this method is unique to geoduck culture and no peer-reviewed papers have been published which examine these questions."
Taylor Shellfish Foss Farm--geoduck harvesters 'in the hole,' 8/14/07
January 21, 2008. Taylor Shellfish Farms shares thoughts on aquaculture . Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald.
January 21, 2008. Brinnon Resort zoning Approved. Jefferson County commissioners have approved unanimously the master planned resort zoning for the 256-acre Brinnon Harbor designation and golf course. "What were the commissioners thinking when they approved this zoning request?" Olympia Peninsula Environmental News, Al Bergstein.
January 16, 2008. Letter from Case Inlet Shoreline Association Board Member to Tom Clingman about SARC process. Bill Trandum says Geoduck Grower BMP's are for the benefit of industry and do not add help to protect Puget Sound.
January 16, 2008. In Anderson Island versus geoducks, a point for the people. DNR says that the proposed geoduck lease site is not suitable after Anderson Island residents rally to oppose it. Tacoma News Tribune, Kathleen Merryman
January 7, 2008.Documents for the January 14, 2008 SARC meeting.
January 14, 2008 DRAFT Agenda
Shellfish Aquaculture BMP Worksheet
Outline of SARC meetings January-June, 2008
This agenda does not appear to address the primary land use issue: where should expanding shellfish aquaculture be sited and how much should be allowed. All the land use issues identified in the documents assume the operations will exist and just address mitigation. While mitigation is important, the threshold issue is choosing appropriate sites from a land use perspective as well as from an environmental perspective.
Public comments can be made on the Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee Public Listserv or by writing directly to Tom Clingman, Department of Ecology
December 31, 2007.Peter Downey, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association representative, geoduck farmer and Jefferson County Commissioner, votes to recommend approval of a big new development in Brinnon. Evan Cael, Peninsula Daily News.
Our Comment: the shellfish industry is continually stating that upland development is the cause of all the problems in Puget Sound and that shellfish operations must fill up Puget Sound to mitigate for upland development. We would hope that Mr. Downey would have the courage of his convictions related to upland development.
December 15, 2007. Read the transcrips from the Pierce County Hearing in which Taylor Shellfish appealed the Pierce County Administrative determination that the permit for the Foss geoduck farm had expired. Taylor also argued that geoduck farming is not "development" and thus geoduck aquaculture does not require a substantial shoreline development permit under the Shoreline Management Act.
November 1, 2007 transcript
November 2, 2007 transcript
December 13, 2007 transcript
December 14, 2007 transcript
See also:
Taylor Shellfish Pre-hearing brief.
Taylor Shellfish Pre-hearing Expert Testimony Summaries.
Intervenors Coalition to Preserve Puget Sound Habitat Pre-hearing brief.
Intervenors North Bay Partners (Foss Family) Pre-hearing exhibit list.
November 15, 2007. The Association for Responsible Shellfish Farming, based in British Columbia, responds to Draft Goals and Objectives and Draft Principles, documents developed at the October 2007 World Wildlife Molluscan Dialog held at the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association Annual Conference in Oregon. We concur with the response and recommend that concerned parties write to Colin Brannen of the World Wildlife Fund. Email: Colin.Brannen@WWFUS.ORG or go to World Wildlife Molluscan Dialog website.
November 15, 2007. Shellfish industry is claiming over 10,600 acres of existing geoduck culture per Department of Ecology list of Army Corps NWP 48 Report Forms, dated 6/29/07. To the rest of us, industry is claiming that there are only 150 acres of existing geoduck culture, maintaining that 150 acres is so small an amount that it should not be regulated. Either the 150 acre claim is false, or the 10,600 acres is an overinflation in order to avoid individual ACOE permits, or both.
November 15, 2007. A letter from PCSGA to the Department of Ecology, dated 1/16/07 obtained through a public document request lays out the regulatory wishes of the shellfish industry. The letter states on page one "PCSGA believes that federal permits being developed for shellfish farming activities, together with the state approvals that are necessary before those permits can become effective, provide a vehicle for addressing all federal, state and local regulatory issues related to shellfish farming, so long as the process for issuing the state approvals allow for stakeholder participation in formulating appropriate and feasible regulatory conditions." Note that stakeholder participation envisioned by industry did not include citizen representation. The SARC process formulated by the 2007 Legislature did add citizen participation to the stakeholder process by adding two citizens to the committee, one who does not own a geoduck farm and one who does (as apparently insisted upon by the industry). See HB 2220.
November 14, 2007. DNR has removed website links to its 2006 geoduck aquaculture lease site maps and added the 2007 geoduck aquaculture lease site maps. We question why DNR does not have links to all of its leases so that the public has a clear understanding of the areas that DNR is targeting for geoduck operations. Note that the Shine Beach lease is in a documented herring spawning habitat. Many of the 2006 leases are in sand lance and smelt spawning area. Herring, sand lance and smelt are forage fish that are a critical prey species for salmon.
To comment about DNR geoduck leases, go to the DNR Geoduck Aquaculture website and fill out the opinion survey or write to Fran McNair, Aquatic Lands Steward,Email: fran.mcnair@dnr.wa.gov. Please send copies of your letters to info@protectourshoreline.org.
October 31, 2007. Trouble in Dutcher Cove. Neighbors band against proposed shellfish farm. Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
October 26, 2007. Interim geoduck ordinance passes committee. Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald.
October 26, 2007. County Council adopts geoduck regulations. Industry opponents still see fight ahead. The Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
October 16, 2007. Pierce County Council limits geoduck farms, No harvesting along some shores, and growers must pay $1 per tube. Geoduck farm proponents call Council members "NIMBY puppets." Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
October 16, 2007. Department of Natural Resources offers 2007 Geoduck Aquaculture lease bid requests for eight state-owned tideland parcels: 4 in Jefferson County, 3 in Mason County and 1 in Pierce County.
October 15, 2007. Interim geoduck regulations head for DOE. Pierce County Council approves interim regulations that restrict how commercial aquaculture may be practiced on local shorelines. Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald
October 5, 2007. The shellfish industry's answer to conflicts with shoreline communities in Pierce County: BRING IN THE FEDS! The Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association rails against shoreline property owners while promoting federal money to expand shellfish aquaculture in Pierce County. PCSGA has long been lobbying in Washington DC for federal jurisdiction over permitting of shellfish aquaculture in Puget Sound. PGSCA newsletters for Mar/Apr 2006, Nov/Dec 2006 and Mar/Apr 2007 document lobbying efforts. To our knowledge, Rep. Brian Baird has never responded to any of the documentation we have sent to him or to information given to his staff related to citizen concerns about expansion of geoduck and other shellfish aquaculture.
October 8, 2007. Washington Sea Grant Shellfish Aquaculture Workshop presentations. September 13/14, 2007
September 24, 2007. Concerned citizens write letter regarding Scallop farm in Baynes Sound, BC. The organization was founded by a group of former DFO employees with expertise in fisheries science, biology, engineering and management who reside in the community of Bowser. "Our group is extremely concerned with the lack of scientific study, socio-economic consideration, and public input when considering some of the largest aquaculture development proposals in the history of British Columbia."
September 19, 2007. Recent Shorelines Hearings Board Decisions Require Consideration of Cumulative Impacts. Laura Fandino, Martin Law Group.
September 12, 2007. Geoduck rules head back to county. Geoduck farming regulations voted down by the Pierce County Council last month were revived and strengthened by a council committee Monday. Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
September 11, 2007. Vote gives geoduck rules new life. A proposal to regulate geoduck farming along Pierce County shorelines was revived and reinforced Monday with the unanimous backing of a County Council committee. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon
Our comment: Representative of the Pacific Shellfish Growers Association, Peter Downey, who lives in Jefferson County, stated in the hearing that "The biggest threat to Puget Sound is not shellfish aquaculture. It's upland development." This boiler plate argument changes the subject away from impacts of expanding shellfish aquacultion on habitat and shoreline neighborhoods. The shellfish industry Representative in SARC introduced this subject in the August 24, 2007 SARC meeting. However, it was reported to us that during the August 8, 2007 Pierce County Hearing, an industry science spokesperson argued against additional regulations for docks and piers (upland development) in Pierce County. Defeating the docks and piers regulations at that hearing also defeated the geoduck regulations at that time because they were tied together. The latest hearing on September 10, 2007, separates these two issues.
September 1, 2007. Aquaculture's future still unsettled; Pierce County interim regulations halted. Key Peninsual News, Chris Fitzgerald.
Our comment: the letter referred to in the article from Jim Gibbons contained both vicious and comically inaccurate personal attacks against the SARC citizen members as well as Representative Lantz. In a letter of apology, executive director of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association (PCSGA), Robin Downey, describes Mr. Gibbons as simply one individual not representing the industry. However, Mr. Gibbons is not simply one individual. He is the president of one of the largest shellfish aquaculture companies in Puget Sound (Seattle Shellfish), he a 2005-2007 board member of PCSGA, and an employee of his company is on the Pacific Shellfish Institute Board.
August 29, 2007. Geoduck subtidal aquaculture tenure application rejected near Quadra Island, British Columbia. BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands.
August 26, 2007. Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee Task Timeline Chart. Note that by 11/5/07 Ecology expects to have a draft for "interim regulatory improvement recommendations and findings" for the 12/1/07 Legislative Report. The report "shall provide interim recommendations and finding for integrating local, state and federal regulations for shellfish aquaculture. The system shall be efficient both for the regulators and the regulated. (A final report is due in 2008)."
August 26, 2007. Application in for 26 acre shellfish farm with 21 acres in geoduck in Dutcher Cove, Pierce County. The parcel includes the entire entrance to the cove, where some residents have resided for 50 to 100 years.
August 24, 2007. At the first SARC meeting (July 27, 2007), the industry member was allowed to give a presentation in which she advocated for the environmental benefits of shellfish farming. She objected to allowing the citizen members to give a presentation of their viewpoints. At the second SARC meeting, the member representing Protect Our Shoreline, a citizen shoreline group, was allowed to give the POS Powerpoint presentation. POS was heavily pressured by the Department of Ecology prior to the presentation both by phone and email to remove any mention of environmental concerns. The environmental concerns were left in the presentation, which was then critized by the industry member as being inappropriate and unfactual. The industry SARC member continues to make critical comments of the Protect Our Shoreline presentation materials, yet has not once offered any specific objection.
August 22, 2007. Geoduck, dock regs back to drawing board in Dutcher Cove, Pierce County. The Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello
August 22, 2007. Taylor Shellfish appeal to the Pierce County Administrative Determination that the substantial shoreline development permit for the "Foss Farm" on Case Inlet has expired. One of their arguments is that they don't need a substantial shoreline development permit in the first place. This legal strategy was threatened in a previous letter to the County.
August 21, 2007. County Council to revisit proposed geoduck limits. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon
August 15, 2007. Geoduck regs downed by dock concerns. County council likely to revisit the issue, councilman says. Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
August 7, 2007. Response to Taylor Shellfish from Pierce County states that the Foss permit for geoduck farming has expired and Taylor must apply for a new substantial shoreline development permit for the project.
August 8, 2007. County rejects geoduck rule. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
August 8, 2007. This June 6, 2007 letter from Buck Gordon, the shellfish attorneys, to Pierce County, gives insight into what happened in Pierce County.
August 7, 2007. Proposed Pierce County Master Shoreline Program interim regulations for geoduck aquaculture, worked on for nearly a year, were voted down by the Pierce County Council along with new dock regulations. Terry Lee was the lone desenter. The May 4, 2007 letter from the shellfish attorneys, had threatened a lawsuit if the interim regulations were passed before the final report of HB 2220.
August 2, 2007. Regional directors decry geoduck farms. Powell River Peak, Jonathan Hutchings, British Columbia.
August 1, 2007. New commercial geoduck farm in Pickering Passage, planted July, 2007. New shellfish aquaculture installations are not currently required to get a shoreline permit from Mason County, but are required to get an Army Corps permit. This one apparently did not do so.
July 26, 2007. Shellfish Aquaculture is listed as a 'stressor' for Green Cove in the Chinook & Bull Trout Recovery Approach for the South Puget Sound Nearshore.
July 26, 2007. Geoduck farms draw opposition. Proposed geoduck farms in the Powell River area are raising concerns with residents and the province's official opposition. The Powell River Peak, British Columbia, Laura Walz, Peak Editor
July 25, 2007. Court Ruling Opens Up Aquaculture to Anyone, Regardless of Ownership of Abutting Shorelands. Conflicts between waterfront property owners and commercial aquaculture developers have recently heated up with the anticipated leasing by DNR of up to 250 acres of state-owned land for geoduck cultivation in Puget Sound waters. Echo Bay Community Ass’n clarified DNR’s authority to lease state-owned bedlands to any person for aquaculture uses, and broadly defines aquaculture to include herring holding pens. The case will likely be of interest to a multitude of interests including shoreline property owners, recreational shoreline users, environmental groups, developers and regulators, affected by offshore uses in Puget Sound. Laura Fandino, Martin Law Group
July 21, 2007. Another eagle caught in geoduck farm net. Eagle family marks summer days. Article includes a description of an eagle caught in a commercial geoduck farm net on Eld Inlet, The Olympian, John Dodge
July 20, 2007. DNR informs Dickenson Point residents by letter on May 10, 2007 that it has accepted an offer from a commercial geoduck grower to farm a state-owned tideland parcel in their shoreline neighborhood. When confronted by POS about their inconsistent statements, DNR justifies their abandonment of their own criteria (high bank) for their lease by stating in a letter to POS, dated July 19, 2007, they have consulted with the residents. Apparently residents were not consulted ahead of time, but by a PR promotional after the bid was already accepted. We consider this an unscrupulous business practice.
July 18, 2007. Protect Our Shoreline
letter from attorneys David Bricklin and Claudia Newman to Thurston County Commissioners, refuting the Attorney General's opinion related to substantial shoreline development permits for geoduck aquaculture and urging Thurston County to establish a permitting process for these operations.
Attachments:
1. Powerpoint showing areas of geoduck aquaculture throughout Thurston County.
2. Data Gap Analysis from Amy Leitman, Dr. Megan Dethier and Dr. Bill Mathews.
3. The Washington State Geoduck Growers Environmental Codes of Practice, many of which are cited in the letter.
July 17, 2007. Patrick Townsend, President of Protect Our Shoreline, has been appointed as a member of the Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee. The first meeting of the committee is scheduled for July 23, 2007. Read July 23, 2007 Agenda and other documentation. Note that industry has been given a large segment of time for a presentation, while citizen and environmental groups have been given none. We have commented on this to Department of Ecology, but as of this date have not received a response.
July 15, 2007. Muddy mess raises awareness, money for water-quality issues.Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish, "a major local shellfish producer with about $40 million in annual revenue" says that Taylor has "...recently acquired five shellfish farms in neighboring British Columbia...We don't feel there's enough certainty in the future water quality in the Puget Sound area." Seattle Times, Angel Gonzales. (Protect Our Shoreline supports the advice of Mr. Dewey to pick up your dog poop, maintain your sepctic system and don't use feritilizers on your lawn, but wonders at the confusion caused by the shellfish industry when they claim that their shellfish "clean the water" but that they are moving to Canada because Puget Sound water is not clean enough.)
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June 15, 2007. Geoduck aquaculture: where are we headed?. Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald
June 15, 2007. If PVC pipe and heavy duty Vexar pastic fencing and oyster bags are not enough, add plastic kiddie pools observed at a Taylor Shellfish geoduck operation near the mouth of Hammersley Inlet in Mason County. There are several rows of these pools apparently used for geoduck seed--another example of the "new technology" of the shellfish industry and the use of plastics to cover the beaches in Puget Sound.
June 5, 2007. Panel backs new geoduck rules. Activity in Pierce County would be limited to daylight, weekday hours if proposal passes. The Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
June 1, 2007. In Mayo Cove, battle lines drawn over giant clams. The fight over geoduck clam farms pits neighbor against neighbor on Key Peninsula. Pierce County has stalled the processing of permit requests by shellfish growers, and officials are proposing more regulation. The Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
May 31, 2007. Fish Farm Documents Show Politics Trump Science, Say Critics. BC Fisheries Minister van Dongen: ‘We need to get moving’ Deleted facts flagged as 'Technically correct, but politically problematic.' Note that this article includes shellfish aquaculture as needing to be politically managed. The Tyee, Tom Barrett.
May 9, 2007. Lakebay geoduck farm piques profits, concerns. The Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
May 9, 2007. Ordinance may tighten geoduck restrictions. The Peninsula Gateway, Michael Colello.
May 17, 2007. Letter from shellfish grower attorney threatens to sue Pierce County because growers do not want interim regulations. Also Peter Downey states that "shellfish aquaculture is as good or better than eelgrass in creating forage fish habitat." The Department of Ecology website states that "damage to eelgrass affects whole populations of fish, including threatened salmon, waterfowl, shellfish, and other animals, as well as the stability of our shorelines." A study on geoducks and eelgrass by Jennifer Ruesink, UW, "observed direct negative effects of disturbance and of geoducks on eelgrass density...and plots with geoducks have lower eelgrass densities than do those without. On the other hand, we have seen little evidence of indirect positive effects of geoducks."
May 17, 2007. Geoduck Farms Duck Permits. Thurston County flip-flops on substantial shoreline development permits for geoduck farms. Our comment: The most important item in this article is the statement by Diane Cooper, Taylor Shellfish, who says that "the shellfish industry is putting its energy into crafting the new geoduck-farming guidelines with Ecology." Compare this to the statements in the letters from the shellfish attorneys, Buck Gordon, just below.
May 14, 2007. Document Request from Thurston County shows the attitude of the shellfish industry: Letter from Buck Gordon to Attorney General, 10/25/06, states that "any guidance issued by Ecology should...emphasize the need to protect geoduck farming, and all shellfish aquaculture, from conflicting commercial, residential and recreational uses."
Letter from Buck Gordon to Attorney General, 11/21/06, states that "...geoduck farming, as a branch of agriculture, is exempt from the definition of substantial development."
May 8, 2007. Geoduck Farm Fight, Round 2. Geoduck farming dispute aired before the Pierce County Council. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon
April 27, 2007. Governor Gregoire signs HB 2220. Last minute compromises allow HB 2220, sponsored by Rep. Pat Lantz, to pass nearly unanimously. The Senate was forced to modify their good amendments by the House: 1) the bill does not prohibit additional leasing of state-owned land for geoduck farming but it reduces from 25 to 15 the number of acres per year that can be leased by DNR; 2) the bill still requires geoduck operators to register with Department of Fish and Wildlife. 3) the requirement for operators to mark all their gear with their registration number was removed; 4) the requirement for notification of geoduck activity to abutting landowner was reduced; 5) the bill still funds science studies.
April 12, 2007. Senate Floor Debate on HB 2220. Passed with Senate Natural Resources Committee Amendment by a vote of 37 to 11 with 1 excused.
April 11, 2007. The battle of the bi-valves. Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish spokesperson, is quoted in reference to geoduck farms: "To some waterfront property owners this is not an attractive view. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To growers, this is attractive." The Gateway, Michael Colello, 4/11/07.
April 1, 2007. Key Penninsula News Sponsors Geoduck Forum. The public forum will be held on Thursday, April 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Key Peninsula Civic Center.
March 29, 2007. Audio of Senate Natural Resources Committee Work Session on HB 2220 which passed with amendments. Portion on HB 2220 starts about 1/3 way along the audio bar.
March 29, 2007. Shark disappearance threatens sea life: Report, a cautionary tale about what happens when humans interfere with the ecological balance in nature. The Toronto Star.
March 15, 2007. Tide begins to turn for unregulated aquaculture Legislature, county council, industry, opposition square up . Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald
March 7, 2007. Geoduck farming faces opposition. Tribal communities in British Columbia call for revoking permits for subtidal geoduck farming. The Power River Peak, Laura Walz, Peak Editor.
March 12, 2007. Toxins on the Half Shell. Simon Fraser Univsersity video about research related to accumulation of heavy metal cadmium in oysters. Does cadmium consumption override the benefits of eating oysters for humans?
March 9, 2007. New industry talking point: shellfish must be harvested to reduce nutrient load in Puget Sound--a convoluted argument. Justin Taylor, of Taylor Shellfish says in The Olympian, March 7, 2007, "As long as you harvest them, shellfish are part of the solution." The argument appears to be that young growing geoducks assimilate more nutrients than older ones and they soak nutrients up like a sponge or a vacume cleaner and somehow don't poop, so harvesting them gets rid of what they've taken in. Industry apparently needs a reason to sell "clear-cutting" of native geoducks to the public and put tidelands into a cycle of agricultural production.
The irony is that shellfish do soak up and sequester in their bodies contaminants such as cadmium and toxins such as Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) which makes eating them sometimes dangerous for human health. Another irony is that the shellfish industry needs nutrients as food for their shellfish, as noted in this Pacific Shellfish Institute document prepared for DNR.
March 7, 2007. Geoduck 'compromise' not much of one Tacoma News Tribune editorial.
March 6, 2007. Nutrient levels a growing worry for shellfish industry "Too much shellfish poop leaves too much nitrogen in the water, producing way too much phytoplankton for the bivalves to ingest” says APHETI member Anita Woodnut, The Olympian, John Dodge
March 2, 2007. Trade-off on geoduck farms? Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon
February 28, 2007. HB 5076-S voted out of committee. This bill concerns restrictions on "nuisance lawsuits" related to agricultural operations. The substitute bill allows that "Shellfish aquaculture activities are granted protection under the Washington Right to Farm Act." It appears that there was no public comment on the substitute bill that contains the new language related to shellfish aquaculture.
This bill states that "The legislature further finds that farm operations must be able to adopt new technologies and diversify into new crops and products if the agricultural industry is to survive and agricultural lands are to be conserved." As relates to the shellfish industry this could diminish regulation and allow expansion of new technologies into Puget Sound. To understand the full extent of the plans of the shellfish aquaculture industry see: Shellfish Goals and Priorities 2015.
This bill is extremely concerning to those interested in protecting Puget Sound, since shellfish aquaculture is not being displaced by other uses, but is displacing other traditional uses of our tidelands and will seriously impact the nearshore habitat. Documents from the shellfish industry clearly demonstrate that the shellfish growers want to turn all of Puget Sound into a very large farm. Additionally, this bill directly contradicts the recent Pierce County Hearings Examiner decision to place restrictions on hours and days of operations because the noisy operations take place primarily in residential shoreline neighborhoods.
February 27, 2007. HB 2220 heard before Select Committee for Puget Sound. Final draft of 1547/1728 compromise bill. We opposed this bill in hearing today after having 15 minues to review it before the hearing. Industry is unwilling to compromise on the number of acres of state-owned land to be leased for geoduck farming. We feel a prohibition on leasing of state-owned aquatic land is warranted. This bill keeps the status quo at 25 acres of aquatic intertidal land available for lease per year until 2014. It does not prohibit subtidal geoduck aquaculture on state-owned aquatic lands at all. 25 intertidal acres may not sound like much, but it represents thousands of linear feet along a narrow tidal band. Property owners, who do not own the land and therefore have no vested financial interest in this activity, will be severely impacted. There are other troubling changes made to the previous draft version.
Pile of netting washed up on British Columbia beach after January storms. Removed by shellfish industry after being shown on TV. Comments from citizen: Turns out there are "experimental" farms off a nearby island that no-one knew about. So much for "public consultation." This is only part of the debris on the Open Bay beaches - we have some in our cove but it so wrapped around logs it cannot be removed."
February 20, 2007 (Posted). Letter from NRDC, Sierra Club, Earth Justice and other environmental groups regarding the Army Corps NWP D permit. This document includes the cover letter and the excerpt from the detail document related specifically to the NWP D Shellfish Aquaculture.
February 18, 2007 (Posted). Accepted application to DNR for lease of state-owned tidelands called 'Herron Lake' for geoduck aquaculture . Note in section 5.0 that applicant intends to change the character of the beach by removing rocks and using a vehicle on the beach. This type of activity has also been observed on aquaculture operations in Totten Inlet.
February 17, 2007 (Posted). Washington Council of Trout Unlimited Aquaculture Management Resolution. Calls for the 'precautionary principle' in relation to aquaculture operations in Washington State. Dated November 2006.
February 15, 2007 (Posted). Vashon-Maury Island Community Council Resolution. Calls for moratorium on expansion of shellfish aquaculture until a detailed enviornmental impact study is completed. Dated November 20, 2006.
February 14, 2007. KP shorelines may see landscape change. Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald.
February 14, 2007. Army Corps of Engineers Draft Decision for Nation Wide Permit D for Shellfish Aquaculture.
February 8, 2007. Aquaculture concerns reach legislative level Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald
February 7, 2007. Audio of February 2, 2007 hearing before the House Select Committee on Puget Sound for HB 1547 and HB 1728.
February 7, 2007. Dead zone in Gallagher Cove under mussel rafts. Photos and dive information. Shows white bacterial mat that is the same type of bacteria, Beggiatoa, that grows in dead zones in Hood Canal.
February 5, 2007. View examples of raft and longline aquaculture in British Columbia. Submission on Behalf of the Association for Responsible Shellfish Farming October 18, 2006 to the LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 38th Parliament, First Session Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture.
February 2, 2007. Geoduck growers and foes face off in Olympia, article about legislative hearing for HB 1547 and HB 1728 , Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
January 25, 2007. HB 1728: Geoduck bill from Rep. Eickmeyer, 35th District and (apparently) the shellfish industry. Bill contains some of the same language related to geoduck science studies as HB 1547 but seeks to create a new regulatory committee related to all shellfish aquaculture in Washington. Does not include citizen groups in the regulatory process. Contains language that includes the new talking points of the shellfish industry. SB 5654: Senate Companion Bill. According to our sources, these bills are the work of a Taylor Shellfish lobbyist.
January 24, 2007. Residents clam up on geoduck opposition , British Columbia, PeakOnline, Laura Walt, Peak Editor.
January 22, 2007. HB 1547: Geoduck bill from Rep. Pat Lantz, 26th District. Primary intent of the bill is to require science studies related to geoduck aquaculture before allowing DNR to lease additional state-owned land for geoduck aquaculture.
January 19, 2007. Decision on Reconsideration of Pierce County Geoduck Ruling by the Pierce County Hearings Examiner. Basically only minor wording changes allowed.
January 17, 2007. B.C. OKs first geoduck farm. Province sees clams as 'economic driver'; critics say they're an environmental risk. Times Colonist, BC, Jeff Rud.
January 8, 2007. More Geoduck Nets, Cortes Island Tideline, British Columbia, January 8, 2007.
Geoduck barge anchored in Zangle Cove from 12/6/06 to 1/13/07 and sporadically to current date. Moved to marina during non-active work periods since 1/13/07 after complaint to DNR. Current activity is removing PVC pipes. Do we want the coves of Puget Sound to become parking places for geoduck barges? Proliferation of these activities is increasing. Washington State Department of Natural Resources has accepted bids for its pilot project to lease state owned tidal lands for these operations. DNR also indicates on their Geoduck Aquaculture site that they may consider leasing of state-owned subtidal lands for aquaculture as early as 2008.
January 1, 2007. State appeal sought in Pierce County geoduck permit decision., Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald.
December 1, 2006. Letter from David Mann, Attorney, to Thurston County regarding Beggiatoa bacteria growing under Taylor Shellfish mussel rafts in Gallagher Cove, Totten Inlet. Beggiatoa is the bacteria found growing in large mats in the "dead zones" of Hood Canal and is indicative of hydrogen sulfide. Taylor Shellfish has not produced the environmental impact statement mandated by the Thurston County Hearings Examiner in 1999 for additional mussel rafts in Totten Inlet. Meanwhile, Taylor is selling the non-native Mediterranean mussels to the public all over Puget Sound. The Mediterranean mussel is #62 in the top 100 invasive species list of the Conservation Science Institute.
December 2006. Sound Health, Sound Future. The Puget Sound Partnership sends recommendations to the governor for protection and restoration of Puget Sound.
December 6, 2006. Expanded geoduck farm, with a catch. Tacoma News Tribune, Susan Gordon.
December 1, 2006. Opposition to geoduck applications grows. Key Peninsula News, Chris Fitzgerald.
December 1, 2006. Pacific Shellfish Institute Goals and Priorities 2015.
November 30, 2006. Pierce County Hearings Examiner imposes conditions on Taylo