PCC Natural Markets' Sound Consumer Article Questions Shellfish Initiative

A PCC Natural Markets' Sound Consumer article takes a hard look at Washington's aquaculture and questions the shellfish initiative, recently put forth by the Governor and NOAA: "Washington shellfish initiative: Is it sustainable?" (click to read article).

Puget Sound's tideland ecosystem is unique in the world.  Its habitat supports species which have evolved over thousands of years, many of which are not found anywhere else in the world.  Methods used by industrial aquaculture's large corporations today are extracting that value and replacing it with non-native species, PVC tubes, and are smothering the tidelands with grow-out bags.

With 45,000 members PCC is the nation's largest consumer owned natural food retail co-operative in the nation.  Started in 1953 and incorporated in 1961 as Puget Consumer Cooperative, PCC Natural Markets has grown to nine stores and is at the forefront of supporting local, sustainable agriculture. 

Called out specifically in the article are shellfish grown in Willapa Bay where the chemical Carbaryl has been sprayed for years and where the Department of Ecology is now proposing to allow Imazamox to be applied on commercial shellfish farms there and in Puget Sound.  Geoduck which are commercially grown in the intertidal areas in PVC tubes and harvested with water jets are also called out.  PCC states clearly that neither should be eligible for organic certification.

Mentioned in the article is support from Taylor Shellfish for the jobs which the shellfish initiative will create.  At the same time, shellfish lobbyists are in Washington DC telling congressmen the shellfish industry cannot fill the current jobs.  Why?  Because only immigrant migrant workers are willing to accept the minimal wages paid for the backbreaking work found in harvesting shellfish, especially during winter's midnight low tides. Were Cesar Chavez alive today he would no doubt be on the tidelands, organizing these workers.

Most importantly, the article correctly questions the claim that because shellfish are filter feeders, shellfish expansion should be allowed.  Using this to justify the altering of Puget Sound's tideland ecosystem is the most misguided belief being put forth by the shellfish industry.   Anyone having grown up near Lake Washington or Lake Sammamish knows it was not shellfish filtering the water which restored the lakes.  It was sound regulatory oversight which acknowledged there was an expense society as a whole needed to incur in order to ensure future generations would have clean water and healthy ecosystems.  A geoduck filtering water will not be what preserves Puget Sound's tideland habitat and species it supports for the future generations to enjoy.

Finally, PCC rightly acknowledges aquaculture can be sustainable and it can be organic. Those companies and those methods should be encouraged as PCC does. Supporting PCC Natural Markets will help ensure those companies and those methods are what thrives in Puget Sound.  And what nature has taken thousands of years to create will continue to exist for future generations.