Our mission is to protect the habitat of Puget Sound tidelands from the underregulated expansion of new and intensive shellfish aquaculture methods. These methods were never anticipated when the Shoreline Management Act was passed. They are transforming the natural tideland ecosystems in Puget Sound and are resulting in a fractured shoreline habitat. In South Puget Sound much of this has been done with few if any meaningful shoreline permits and with limited public input. It is exactly what the Shoreline Management Act was intended to prevent.

Get involved and contact your elected officials to let them you do not support aquaculture's industrial transformation of Puget Sound's tidelands.

Governor Inslee:

Friday, March 23, 2012

Why Regulatory Oversight Matters

"Thousands of pounds
of illegal geoduck shipments
seized at Sea-Tac"
Seattle Times, 3/22/2012

Part 1:  People poach geoduck
Part 2:  Companies buy poached geoduck
Part 3:  Regulatory oversight is why this was discovered 


(picture from the Seattle Times)

There are three parts to this story.  The first is people have been poaching geoduck.  The second is companies are buying poached geoduck to ship to China.  The third is regulatory oversight is why this was discovered. 

Very few companies are involved in the export of geoduck to China.  Which ones have been overlooking the proper documentation has yet to be disclosed.  What is known is the shellfish industry does not like regulatory oversight.  Whenever regulations to control what has been a lightly regulated industry are proposed attorneys and lobbyists are brought out.

Most recently the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association has pushed back against the Corps of Engineers recently announced Regional Conditions which would require permits for expansion and new farms.  The PCSGA position paper asking for Congress to exert pressure on the Corps is seen below and only reinforces the fact that they do not want to be regulated.  Why?  One word:  money.








Posted by Protect Our Shoreline at 10:43 AM

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