Gregoire Priorities: A future job or protecting Puget Sound?

Governor Gregoire announced with great regalia the need for "permit streamlining" so Taylor could, among other things, expand its non-native mussel farm to meet demand.  While a few important incentives were included, the priority of the "shellfish initiative" is to speed the expansion of shellfish farming in Puget Sound.

Not mentioned is how Taylor and the Governor intend on dealing with the non-native invasive tunicate problem Taylor's farms have, putting Puget Sound habitat at risk.  Why? Perhaps the groundwork for future employment is being put in place. We all need a job.

Non- native Invasive Tunicates from Taylor's Mussel Farm

In a 2007 the Seattle Times reported: Fearful of the potential impacts on the Sound's ecosystem and the local shellfish industry, the state for the first time last year dedicated $250,000 to tracking and removing the tunicates. Gov. Christine Gregoire is asking in her current budget proposal for $500,000 to continue the work.

In 2011 the Governor cut $30 million from the WDFW budget which included support for erradicating these non-native invasive tunicates.

In this Youtube video of Non-native mussels and tunicates in Totten Inlet (click for youtube video of Taylor's mussel farm) you can see how pervasive they are. At 1:35 Gordon King with Taylor displays a handful of mussels and non-native invasive tunicates. His response in March of 2008 to the problem? “I don’t see it as a problem at this stage,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it won’t be one.”

The way tunicates spread (“If you let chunks go, they go off and form new colonies,”) Taylor's harvesting of mussels creates a perfect means for this species to spread.

Gretchen Lambert (an expert on tunicates) is quoted in various articles as saying:
Didemnum [seen in the picture above and in the video clip], she said, “is potentially the worst one.”

“People tend to ignore tunicates until they are so abundant they can’t be ignored any longer,” said Gretchen Lambert, a Seattle marine biologist who has studied invasive tunicates all over the world.

Is the Governor looking for a future job or protecting Puget Sound for the citizens she still represents?   One step the Governor could take is to restore funding to help erradicate this non-native invasive species - if it's not too late.