Is the non-native Manila clam a "wild" clam? Federal Court says "yes" in Squaxin Tribe case.

Non-native Manila clam, introduced

by shellfish farmers' through non-native

Pacific oyster seed, becoming prevalent ~1930.

Native little neck clam, a tribal food source

for millennium before white settlers.

In a case filed by the Squaxin Island Tribe against Russ Norris with Great Northwest Oyster they claimed Mr. Norris did not notify them of his intent to begin a commercial shellfish farm on tidelands in Oakland Bay and Hammersley Inlet. Attorneys for the tribe believe notification would have allowed treaty rights to have been implemented which would have allowed the tribe 30,000 pounds of the non-native Manila clam. The court agreed Mr. Norris had violated the Squaxin Island Tribe's  rights and they were "...entitled to an equitable remedy which will establish the pounds of Manila clams it is entitled, in the future, to recover from Russ Norris." (read the court decision here)