What has been presented
While one diver working over 2 days harvesting 1,500 geoduck may have some impacts, the industry has moved far beyond that level and agencies have simply accepted small scale studies of small farms and single divers. The Shorelines Hearings Board should consider the reality of what is happening in south Puget Sound. In the pictures below, a farm area of ~500,000 geoduck is seen.
Spencer Cove, Harstine Island
Tideland habitat populated with PVC
covered with netting on various "cycles"...
(~25% of Spencer Cove below)
Note: Estimated ~10 acres planted
in this photo alone.
(click to enlarge)
...followed by ongoing
harvesting by divers...
2 dive barges, 4 divers
(click to enlarge)
...which may, if planted on a
"rotation" be ongoing for years...
Dive barge with two divers.
(click to enlarge)
...or if multiple diver sets are used, create an
intense pulse lasting for months.
(Note: The above is only representative.)
(click to enlarge)
Currently the only observations of sediment plumes submitted by the industry are based on single divers harvesting low density planting over a one or two day period. There have been no studies on the scale and density of harvesting which is now occurring in areas such as Spencer Cove and elsewhere in Puget Sound. In the first picture above, over 10 acres are populated with ~500,000 geoduck. At the Detienne Shorelines Hearings Board hearing a study was presented which looked at dive harvesting 1,500 geoduck to prove "no impact". Is it really comparable?
Is it truly possible to determine the impacts of
what's below by studying the output of a single chimney?
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