Geoducks in Burley Lagoon, Purdy

90 Acre Geoduck Operation

Proposed for Burley Lagoon

Burley Lagoon

(near Purdy, Pierce County)

(from Google Earth)

"Friends of Burley Lagoon" have reported Western Oyster Company's agent, David Steele with Tarboo Enterprises, LLC in Olympia, has applied to Pierce County for a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and a Shoreline Conditional Use permit to harvest wild and seeded geoduck in Burley Lagoon.  The permit application describes harvesting by divers of the areas below Mean Low Water within Burley Lagoon.  Not described in the permit is what neighbors have described as Taylor Shellfish employees populating Burley Lagoon with PVC pipes for future "crops" and a "request" to stay off of the tidelands.

Dive harvesting in Burley Lagoon will destroy documented Pacific Herring spawning habitat and, through sediment disruption, greatly impair one of the few habitat areas used by Chinook Salmon, Steelhead Trout, and Coast Resident Sea Run Cutthroat (see Priority Habitat Map from WDFW below).  With the recent visit of Orcas (an endangered species) into this south Puget Sound area, and their dependence on these species as a food source, their importance and the habitat they depend on cannot be overstated.

The adverse impact from dive harvesting on the subtidal area is why DNR does not allow it in water depths less than 18 feet and is, in part, why the Department of Ecology did not allow dive harvesting in the Section 401 permit issued to Trident Marine (see earlier posts below).

As of August 26, Pierce County Senior Planner Mojgan K. Carlson has stopped taking public comments.  Citizens are still able to contact Mojgan at mcarlso@co.pierce.wa.us or 253-798-7234 and ask to be notified about the Public Hearing schedule. 

Priority Habitats of Burley Lagoon

(from WDFW)