Where are you going my little ones?
Does China know where you came from?
Washington legislators don't care.
2012: "800,000 pounds of geoducks are missing"
from state subtidal tidelands.
"Poaching is very clearly a part of it –
and in fact could be a very large part of it"
2012 - "Rampant poaching puts region's geoduck population at risk."
In the 1800's Washington's native Olympia oyster was harvested to near extinction. In 2012 the state legislature was put on notice that poaching of wild geoduck was putting expected populations far below what was expected, estimates then being 800,000 pounds missing. The 2012 legislature took notice of the geoduck poaching problem, appropriating $552,000 in the 2011-13 supplemental budget to pay for two Fish and Wildlife enforcement officers and one detective to beef up surveillance on the water and to increase monitoring of on-shore activities, including the processing and shipping of geoducks. (see The Olympian, May 1, 2012)
It's not just local seafood eaters at risk.
Do legislators think China doesn't care?
Is 10,792 a large number to Washington legislators?
(Is 一萬a large number to the Chinese?)
(image from KIROtv. com May 12, 2015)
2015: "State legislators are considering a new budget
that could cut 8 officers from the
Department of Fish and Wildlife"
2015 - What's the risk? Geoduck are shipped to China, so why care?
3 years later the state legislature is now considering cutting by 8 the number of WDFW enforcement officers available to prevent poaching, whether crab, oyster, or geoduck shipped to China. As seen in the image above from KIROTV.com, for each reported illness from shellfish harvested from Puget Sound an estimated 142 are not reported. Food Safety News reported 76 illnesses contracted from Vibrio parahaemolyticus in shellfish harvested from Washington, or a total of 10,792 illnesses.
As seen when the Department of Health said it was safe to harvest geoduck from sediments off of Redondo Beach near Tacoma which the Chinese found arsenic in, there is much to care about. The Chinese banned all shellfish exports to China until the state found money to pay for arsenic testing, something not previously felt important.
Help us with poachers, but
don't require us to get a Hydraulic Permit.
Get involved - WDFW does more than look for poachers.
Contact your elected official http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/
Washington's Department of Fish and Wildlife does more than simply look for poachers. They play an important role in helping to ensure critical habitat areas and species of Washington are protected for the benefit of everyone. Political pressures are immense from those who would prefer they not be overseen by WDFW, including the shellfish industry who has successfully legislated them from oversight of their industry (e.g., there is no Hydraulic Permit process for aquaculture). So it is ironic they now have to ask for help in controlling poachers. Get involved and stay involved. Help by supporting The Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat.
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