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:

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Taylor Shellfish Hearing

A hearing for a proposal to place a 9 acre floating oyster structure in Oakland Bay, within a 50 acre project area, has been moved to June 14 at 1pm. Concerns already expressed include risks to Orca which regularly visit Oakland Bay; visual  impacts; navigational hazards created; and, cumulative impacts. Notice of the rescheduled Hearing as well as Army Corps'  comment request is below.

50 acre project area
(From Army Corps' pdf below)

MASON COUNTY NOTICE: Shellfish hearing moved to June 14

The Taylor Shellfish proposed floating oyster bag proposal in Oakland Bay has been moved to 1 p.m. June 14 at Mason County Building 1 in Shelton.

According to the agenda on the hearing examiner’s website, Taylor Shellfish is applying for a shoreline substantial development and shoreline conditional use permit to grow Pacific oysters and install a floating oyster bag system in Oakland Bay. The system will use an estimated 9.1 acres of surface water within a 50-acre area for the floating oyster gear.

Also seeking public comment is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Seattle. The organization posted a public notice May 19 for the Department of Army Permit for Taylor Shellfish’s floating oyster bag farm.

According to a flyer mailed out by the Corps of Engineers, Taylor Shellfish is proposing to install and maintain 30 pairs of synthetic rope lines, each pair 1,800 feet long, across 9.1 subtidal acres of Oakland Bay. Rope line pairs would connect the tops and bottoms of a row of plastic mesh bags with each bag between a pair of floats above and below the bag. Rope line pairs will be arranged 20 to 30 feet apart across the 50-acre site.The bag will be used for oyster seed and oyster growing cultivation and the purpose of the project is to provide shellfish to eat, according to the flyer.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Seattle District has posted the public notice for review and comment at:  https://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Portals/27/docs/regulatory2/Public%20Notices/2023/NWS-2023-0305-AQ-PN.pdf 

If you wish to comment and do not have internet access and would like to request a paper copy of the notice, contact Rory Lee at 206-427-0732. Comments must be received by June 18.

Posted by Protect Our Shoreline at 4:57 PM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)