Taylor Shellfish Seeks Responsibility Certifications on Puget Sound/Hood Canal Tideland Plots

Public meetings, July 26, 27 and 28 (see below).

Grow Out Bags:

Oysters responsibly grown?

(Totten Inlet)

Onwards and upwards in a responsible manner.
After achieving responsibility certifications on a limited number of tideland plots in a portion of south Puget Sound and Willapa Bay, Taylor Shellfish is seeking to expand the number of its plots
it may say are certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), an organization headquartered in the Netherlands. Prior to Taylor Shellfish, ASC had certified bi-valve farms in Chile, Peru, Japan and the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote "...industry best practice to minimise [sic] the environmental and social footprint of commercial aquaculture..." allowing use of a label which "...promotes certified responsibly farmed products in the marketplace." Taylor seeks certification for oyster, manila clam and geoduck operations.

Jersey Oyster Farm: Industry best practice

to minimize the environmental and social footprint

of commercial aquaculture.

(United Kingdom)

We have a few questions for you.
Taylor Shellfish will use SCS Global to audit the farms and determine if they meet the standards Taylor Shellfish helped to develop and used by ASC, the Dutch organization, through the Aquaculture Dialogues. That audit includes site visits (which have already occurred) and public meetings (see below) at which those aware of them may provide input. A final draft report will then be developed which may be commented on over a ten day period, after which SCS Global will determine if the plots looked at meet ASC standards. (See here for reports on earlier plots approved in south Puget Sound and in Willapa Bay.)

Public is Invited to Provide Input July 26, 27 and 28 or on Draft Report (to be released)
Listed below are the areas where the plots are located and associated public meetings. Included is Burley Lagoon where Taylor is proposing a 25 acre geoduck farm. It is unclear whether any geoduck farms exist there at this time. No geoduck operation of that size currently exists anywhere in Puget Sound or Willapa Bay. Comments may be emailed to Juan Aguirre, JAguirre@scsglobalservices.com. If you would like to be notified of the release of the draft report, you may also email Mr. Aguirre and request to be notified.

Samish Bay Areas (see public announcement here)
Community Meeting 1 – Samish – July 26^th, 2016, 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Mt. Vernon Fire Station #2 – 1901 N Laventure Rd, Mt. Vernon, WA

Plots in Samish Bay: Samish Bay, Samish West and Samish East. 

South Puget Sound Areas (see public announcement here)

Community Meeting 2 – SE Puget Sound – July 27^th, 2016 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Port of Allyn – 18560 E. SR 3, Allyn, WA

Plots in south Puget Sound: North Bay, Minterbrook, Burley Lagoon, Case Inlet, Harstine Island

Hood Canal Areas (see public announcement here)

Community Meeting 3 – Hood Canal – July 28^th, 2016 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Brinnon Community Center – 306114 US 101, Brinnon, WA

Areas of Hood Canal Plots: Dosewallips, Dabob Bay, Discovery Bay, Anna’s Bay 

If you net over $1 million/acre

and pay little to no taxes

you have disposable income.

It's not free, but little in sales is.

The cost to be able to use the ASC label includes the audit and then, depending on use, annual fees and/or royalties. It limits the use to those able to afford it and able to track their product. Whether it helps to differentiate the product enough to offset the cost(s) is unknown. What is known is Taylor and others are generating immense profits from sales of geoduck to China. t

Get involved. Attend a meeting or email your thoughts to Juan Aguirre at: JAguirre@scsglobalservices.com