Taylor Shellfish/Seattle Shellfish/Carol Taylor Propose New Geoduck Farm in Pierce County

Comments due by 4:30PM, April 8

County Contact:

Ty Booth, Senior Planner
Office (253)798-3727, Fax (253)798-7425
E-mail: tbooth@co.pierce.wa.us
Shoreline Substantial Development Permit: SD5-13
(Taylor Shellfish Farms - Haley)
Reference Numbers: 748284, 74828
Parcel Numbers: 0021221017, 0021221035, 0021223007 3702 190th Avenue KP North, Vaughn, WA

Coming soon to Key Penninsula.



Taylor Shellfish/Seattle Shellfish/Carol Taylor Partnership

Taylor Shellfish has submitted a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit for a geoduck farm on a tideland parcel recently purchased by Seattle Shellfish and Carol Taylor Family Partnership (SSCT), and  adjacent parcels owned by the Haley Beach Property Trust (of Brown and Haley, Almond Roca fame).

Location of proposed geoduck farm

on SSCT/Haley tideland parcels.

Death by a thousand cuts (aka, "creeping normalcy" or "landscape amnesia").

As with other recent geoduck farm permits a "small" number of acres is being applied for. In total, between 6 and 7 acres will be converted to geoduck farming. In addition to those already existing, approved permit applications on Fudge Point total ~12 acres; pending Detienne near Burley Lagoon is ~5 acres; Sullivan in Totten Inlet is 3 acres; and, soon to be applied for is a 30 acre farm in Burley Lagoon. Separately it is claimed there is a small impact. Together cumulative impacts continue to grow.

Proposed geoduck farm site plan. The larger parcel

is that owned by Seattle Shellfish and Carol Taylor.

Better owned than leased, unless taxes rise. Or the unsustainable geoduck bubble bursts.

SSCT purchased the tidelands and upland parcel from the Trustees of the James W and Janice E Hendrick Trust. The SSCT partnership paid the Hendrick Trust ~$260,000 for 5 acres of upland property and adjacent tidelands. From the site plan submitted to Pierce County it appears the Trust had close to 4 acres of tidelands which will be planted with geoduck. Assuming a conservative production of 1 geoduck per foot, there would be ~320,000 pounds of geoduck harvested every five years from the Hendrick parcel. At today's prices of $14/pound for #1 geoduck, had the Hendrick Trustees chosen to lease the tidelands they may have received $480,000, or more, in five years. It  is likely the revenues to the current property owners will be greater, unless the unsustainable geoduck bubble bursts. Then the Trustees would look quite smart.