Mason County Residents Question Geoduck Lease By DNR on Stretch Island

Is removing some of the few remaining tidelands

available to the public in the state wide interest?

Stretch Point State Park and the public tidelands

being leased are both accessible by boat. 

An emergency Port of Grapeview meeting provided Mason County residents an opportunity to question the wisdom of DNR leasing 4.6 acres to Allen Shellfish for a geoduck operation. The lease was described as "the hot topic" of the emergency meeting, held days before its regularly scheduled meeting. At the meeting it was decided to request DNR extend for 90 days the comment period on the proposal so that citizens could gain a better understanding of just how the proposal came to be and what exactly it would mean.

Is this how RFP's for public tidelands

are supposed to be handled?

You give me this now, I'll give you a "piece" later.

As background, in 2006 and 2007, DNR decided to lease a number of tideland parcels to geoduck farmers. Responses to the requests for proposals (RFP's) were received from operators and "winners" were chosen based on a formula applied to various aspects of the responses. After a public outcry, DNR chose to hold off on executing any leases at the time to consider the impacts. During that time horse trading between growers, with DNR's apparent consent ensued, with growers agreeing  to trade one lease for another. As seen in the letter above, Case Cove felt it was in their interest to convince Allen Shellfish to give up their lease in front of Case Cove owner Kent Kingman's property, which Allen Shellfish agreed to do, for another lease and an undefined "piece" at a later time.

[Note: It is unclear whether the "trade" is in effect any longer as Mr. Kingman's Case Cove was administratively dissolved by the State in 2012. Mr. Kingman also had challenges with Pierce County due to aquaculture activities taking place on his privately held tidelands without a permit, resolved when Mr. Kingman agreed not to harvest the clams he had planted.]

Twelve years later, we arrive at the present time with DNR considering an execution of a lease for the use of public tidelands, apparently decided on in 2006. It is not known whether Allen Shellfish was asked to reconsider its 12% of gross geoduck revenues or if DNR considered the possibility of putting the tidelands out for bid again as they do timberland and wild geoduck tracts. What is known is that many of the public still feel it is not in the state's interest to remove some of the few remaining public tidelands, whether accessible by boat or otherwise.

(from Intrafish: requires an account to read

the complete article and quotes from Bill Dewey)

Today, we also have another variable: a President who has started a trade war with the country where it is estimated up to 90% of geoduck sold are exported to. In response, China has placed a 25% tariff on geoduck from the US (i.e., south Puget Sound). What will happen in the likely event they discover geoduck from Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, and even from their own tidelands look and taste the same as those from south Puget Sound? Anyone invested in the stock market in 2000 will tell you what happens when a bubble pops.

Puget Sound geoduck are not different

than Canadian, Alaskan, New Zealand, or Chinese.

Get involved. These leases of some of the few public tidelands remaining were not a good idea in 2006 and they are less of a good idea today. This is a market in a state of high risk, as the stock market was in 2000, except in this case there will also be PVC, netting and stakes left in the tidelands when growers walk away from unprofitable leases.

Tell DNR what you think here:

Contact DNR here:

CPL@dnr.wa.gov (Commissioner) or, 
aquaticleasing.shoreline@dnr.wa.gov