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:

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Mason County Draft Shoreline Master Program Presented

Mason County SMP OPEN HOUSE – October 24, 2012; 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM; Public Works Building - 100 W Public Works Drive, Sheton, WA
[For a flyer click here]

October 24 Mason County will present its draft of their new Shoreline Master Program (SMP) to the public. Will Mason County begin to focus on the shellfish industry's growing impacts as other counties have? Thurston County recently denied a permit for Taylor Shellfish's proposed 58 raft mussel farm in Totten Inlet over concerns of the overall impact aquaculture was having in Totten Inlet. On the other hand, in a recent press release, it was noted Mason County's new SMP would "streamline" mussel and oyster raft permits.

Existing Mussel Rafts in Totten Inlet
on Mason County Side

The shellfish industry has been active for years in helping to craft the counties SMP updates, for their benefit. Financed through immense profits generated from geoduck farming and little in the way of taxes the industry has hired attorneys, public relations firms, and scientists to create a picture of positive "ecoengineering benefits" provided by aquaculture. Govenor Gregoir and NOAA's Shellfish Initiatives are pressuring counties to allow increased expansion through "streamlined permitting." All while cumulative impacts from additional farms and expansion of existing farms continue to grow.

Fudge Point, Harstene Island
in Mason County 

Puget Sound's intertidal tidelands are unique to the world, where species have evolved over thousands of years, able to survive both in and out of water. In Willapa Bay native Ghost shrimp are considered a "pest" by corporate shellfish farmers resulting in their eradication through spraying of Carbaryl in the marine waters. In Puget Sound, where the shellfish industry has introduced non-native Pacific oysters and non-native Manila clams, native Sea Stars; Goldeneye and Scoter diving ducks; Starry Flounder; Sand Dollars; Shiner Perch; Moon Snails are all considered to be "pests" which they would like to eliminate. [click here for more industry pests]

Mason County's tidelands are a treasure for current and future generations. Their value reaches far beyond that derived from oysters grown in plastic grow-out bags and geoducks grown in PVC pipes.

Just because you can't see it
doesn't mean it's not there. Get involved.


Posted by Protect Our Shoreline at 11:37 AM
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