Zangle Cove: "People like PVC tubes in straight lines." What people are those?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

May 19, 2019 - A thing of beauty? 

The populating of Zangle Cove with PVC pipes to grow geoduck for China continues. Conversion of the intertidal area into a monolithic population of geoduck contained within PVC tubes, covered by "predator nets", is found more important to this tideland owner than the native habitat it has provided in the past. 

You need new glasses 

if you think 

this will "feed the world".

A belief this operation is going to help "feed the world" is a sad and out of focus view of reality. After these PVC tubes are placed, removed, and after harvesting with hydraulic water jets has completely transformed this marine habitat, these geoduck are airfreighted to China where only the elite are able to afford the expense of this luxury food. A Chinese elite who care little for the transformation this product has brought to Puget Sound's tidelands. A transformation which continues to grow.

Where did all those straight lines go?

Replaced by a moonscape at harvest.

Do people think this looks good too?

The only people who think PVC in straight lines in the intertidal area look good are those few corporations who are profiting from this transformation. A transformation which leaves a moonscape at harvest, to be replaced by another set of PVC tubes set in straight lines. It is not a thing of beauty. And China could care less.

Shellfish Economics: China is not an endless market for shellfish.

Seafood Source writes on China and a market saturated with shellfish which has driven the price of what were once considered a luxury oyster down. So significant is the decline that "...many suppliers into China have not been making profits..". Asked why the sudden increase in supply occurred, the writer notes a grower as saying: "The Irish authorities have really progressed their licensing backlog quickly and efficiently."

What is the significance? Exactly the same thing is happening in the United States. Whether on the East Coast, the West Coast, or the Gulf Coast, political pressures from the shellfish industry is resulting in a dream long sought; "streamlined" permitting which will result in an expansion of operations. But as is often the case, be careful what you wish for as it may come true. In this case, along with the sudden expansion of operations will come, as it always does, a drop in price and a lack of profitability.

Who will pay to clean up

when the market collapses?

Economic models justify the expense of plastic structures currently appearing throughout the intertidal areas and waters of the US, in fact throughout the world. When that model changes and profits are no longer there, who will be left to clean up what is left behind as growers walk away? One simply needs to look at Drakes Estero to see one answer: the taxpayers.

While the reasons are different, the decision of Drakes Bay Oyster Company to simply walk away from a failed business model and leave taxpayers to pay for the clean up of over 500 tons of aquaculture gear and 5 miles of oyster racks in order to allow the restoration of eelgrass to occur points to what to expect. [Note: To be fair, the government could have stood its ground and made DBOC pay a far larger portion than nothing.]

As seen in the article written in Seafood Source, China is not an endless market where anything produced will sell. Geoduck are not exclusive to Puget Sound, growing in Alaska and British Columbia, even Mexico. When supply exceeds demand, who will be left to clean up the PVC and mesh tubes which are proliferating throughout Puget Sound?

China Lifts Geoduck Ban

Earthfix reports that after the United States agreed to more stringent testing for arsenic it will lift the ban on geoducks and other shellfish.
(see Earthfix for more)

China To Lift Ban On West Coast Shellfish

May 23, 2014 | OPB

China will lift its ban on imports of geoduck clams and other shellfish from the West Coast, according to a statement from Washington Congressman Derek Kilmer.

“The lifting of this ban is great news for shellfish growers and businesses in our region,” Kilmer said Friday in a statement. “China is a key export market for our region’s shellfish and this news means greater economic stability for the workers and families in our region.”

In December, China issued the first ever ban on all shipments of shellfish harvested on the coast from the waters of Washington, Oregon, Alaska and Northern California. That followed China’s determination that a shipment of geoduck clams from Washington showed unsafe levels of inorganic arsenic and another from Alaska showed similarly high levels of the toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Chinese officials sent a letter Friday to the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration advising the federal agency the ban would be lifted. The letter stated Chinese officials were satisfied with NOAA’s proposed plans for new monitoring and testing requirements for paralytic shellfish poisoning and inorganic arsenic, which would meet China’s food safety requirements.

China’s ban sparked questions over how shellfish should be inspected before export. The portions of the clam showing levels of the toxins beyond China’s standards are not typically eaten in the U.S. but are in China. The U.S. has no standards for arsenic in shellfish.

The ban also put a brief economic strain on a major Northwest industry. The shellfish industry is worth $270 million in Washington state. The U.S. exported $68 million worth of geoduck clams alone in 2012 — most of which came from Puget Sound. Nearly 90 percent of that went to China.

“I appreciate the hard work of the State Departments of Health and Natural Resources, and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Foreign Agricultural Service and U.S. Trade Representative, for all they’ve done to respond to this case and for effectively communicating to our international trading partners that our seafood is safe and healthy for their consumers,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said. “I also want to thank the staff in my D.C. office for working diligently on bringing resolution to this issue.”

Despite the ban, Washington growers had been shipping shellfish to Asia, with the two main destinations being Hong Kong and Vietnam. NOAA officials will work with federal and state food safety and health officials and the shellfish industry to implement the new requirements, which must be done before trade with China can resume. China still plans to send a team of food safety officials to the U.S. this fall to further discuss the issue and evaluate U.S. monitoring and testing plans.

Geoduck Exports to Vietnam Skyrocket: Smart Marketing or a Back Door to China?

The Seattle Times has reported that geoduck exports to Vietnam have skyrocketed from 16,371 pounds in December, 2012 to 117,983 pounds in December of 2013, the month China banned importing of geoduck from Puget Sound due to elevated levels of arsenic. Department of Health testing confirmed the skin did have levels of arsenic above what China considers safe and China confirmed its citizens do consume the skin. The Chinese have since requested additional information on shellfish safety programs, leaving the ban in place.

Vietnam and Hong Kong: Smart marketing or a back door to China?
When China announced the ban  on Puget Sound's geoduck December 5 the amount imported  dropped from 385,802 pounds in December 2012 to 282,216 pounds in December of 2013 (January's export data will not be released until March 7). The Associated Press reported that the Suquamish Tribe has now brought back all of its divers with their product now being shipped to Hong Kong. Robin Jordan, marketing expert for the Suquamish Tribe owned Port Madison Enterprises, is reported to have responded "Where they go after that is uncertain."

Chinese to Audit Shellfish Testing and Informs NOAA Chinese Eat the Outer Skin/Gutball of Geoduck

[Update 2/1: EarthFix has posted the January 23 letter detailing the concerns China has over how testing of shellfish for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins (PSP) and arsenic is implemented. Not mentioned but of probable concern is the Department of Health's reactive system to vibriosis which relies largely on the number of people contracting vibriosis from shellfish before an area is closed or shellfish are recalled. The bi-annual International Shellfish Sanitation Conference (ISSC) meeting through which the National Shellfish Sanitary Program (NSSP) is implemented ended January 31. It is through the policies developed at the ISSC meeting that each state creates its own safety and testing program. To date, heavy lobbying by the shellfish industry has helped to minimize oversight of shellfish safety. It can be expected there will be heavy lobbying by the Chinese to improve those policies.]

Ban On Importing Geoduck to Continue

Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish Next?

The Chinese have informed NOAA they wish to send a team to audit how shellfish are tested. In addition, in a letter dated January 23, they have also informed NOAA that Chinese consumers do in fact eat the skin and gutball of geoduck where elevated levels of arsenic were found. (Seattle Times, January 31, 2014)

All skin samples tested higher than .5ppm







EarthFix/Anthony Schick

As seen in the graph above from EarthFix, DOH testing of geoduck harvested from Poverty Bay showed levels of arsenic in the outer skin of all geoduck tested to be higher than the level Chinese consider safe (.5ppm). In some samples, levels over 3 times higher were detected in the skin. The response by DOH to these higher levels was to simply say to peel the skin off and do not eat it, something the Chinese have not found to be very comforting.

Dioxin levels found in various shellfish

harvested from Oakland Bay

(from Evaluation of Dioxins in Shellfish

from the Oakland Bay Site, July 27, 2010, p. 12)

 



Dioxins in Oakland Bay Shellfish
Another area the Chinese may wish to focus their auditing efforts on is Oakland Bay's shellfish where DOH testing confirmed elevated levels of dioxins exist in Manila calms and oysters. There, testing for dioxins in shellfish was triggered when testing of deeper sediments confirmed elevated levels of dioxins and other chemicals existed. The resulting tests of shellfish showed average (mean) levels ranging from .11 ppt in Manila clams to .45 ppt in Kumo oysters. Why oysters were over 4 times higher was not addressed.

Is this really safe to eat?

DOH Analysis: Eat Manila Clams, Not Oysters
In the analysis performed on possible effects from dioxins, the Department of Health made an assumption that  heavy consumers of seafood have 50% of their diet consisting of Manila clams and 1% oysters and mussels. In other words, the shellfish with the highest levels of dioxins were minimized in their model. Test results under another scenario, where consumption was instead 50% Kumo oysters whose mean dioxin levels were four times higher than Manila clams were not performed, nor was a model tested using the highest levels of dioxins found, only the mean (average).

"Ingestion rates – This scenario assumed that manila clams from Oakland Bay are consumed 50% of the time from total seafood, and oysters and mussels from Oakland Bay are consumed 1% of the time from total seafood." (page 30)

Oakland Bay's Past not a Mystery
Unlike the tidelands of Poverty Bay, Oakland Bay's tidelands are clearly known to have risk. In fact, many of the tideland deeds in Oakland Bay contain a specific condition about past pollution, many reading:

"Releasing and discharging Rayonier Incorporated, its successors and assigns, from any and all claims or causes of action whether in law or equity, due to acts or operations preceding and including the date of release, it might have against Rayonier, incorporated, with respect to ... past maintenance and operation of a pulp mill and manufacturing plant."

Intensity of the Chinese audit is unknown
Shellfish growers in Oakland Bay were fully aware of the business risk they took on when they began growing shellfish in sediments which for decades had been impacted by industrial operation of a pulp mill. The Department of Health is aware of the elevated levels of dioxins in shellfish harvested from those tidelands. Whether the Chinese will be concerned over assumptions used in the model for testing and include shellfish from Oakland Bay in their audit remains to be seen.

 

 

Reminder: Public Hearing for Seattle Shellfish Hatchery on Harstine Island the 28th

Public Notice for Shoreline Permit for Seattle Shellfish's shellfish hatchery.

Permit #: SHR2013-00013 (reference when communicating)
When: January 28 at 1PM
Where: Commissioners Chambers Bldg 1, 411 North 5th St
Written comments may be sent to: Grace Miller at gbm@co.mason.wa.us, before the hearing. Questions may be answered at 360-427-9670 X360.

Get involved - Seattle Shellfish is, at many levels.
A public hearing will be held January 28, 2014 at 1PM in Shelton, WA to consider a shoreline permit to develop a shellfish nursery on the shoreline of Spencer Cove, located on the northeast end of Harstine Island. Seattle Shellfish and Mason County already have a close relationship, in part through ex-Commissioner Bloomfield, part owner of Seattle Shellfish.

Questions Mason County needs to address include:
1. How will the bridge hold up to the increased industrial traffic? According to Commissioner Sheldon the bridge is "failing." Who will pay for the repairs?
2. Should a permit be issued for a project which requires the use of tidelands whose ownership is in question? (see below)
3. This project is tied directly to Seattle Shellfish's geoduck farming. Included are proposals for geoduck farms directly east from Harstine Island. Should this project be considered in isolation or should the cumulative impacts which will result from the expanded production of shellfish impacting Puget Sound's tidelands also be required?
4. Within Spencer Cove to the north are large areas of subtidal tidelands which are privately held, most leased by Seattle Shellfish. Neither the Corps nor Ecology ever considered the expansion of subtidal planting in their biological opinions or evaluations. Should this project be required to perform a cumulative impact analysis which will result from subtidal planting/harvesting? As an example, in a recent monitoring report on Seattle Shellfish's geoduck nursery rafts they noted "increased turbidity". They note it may have been plankton blooms or runoff from heavy rains. It may also have been from dive harvesting creating sediment plumes. (see below for picture of dive harvesting)

"Overall, attenuation coefficients (see Table 1) were twice as high as those recorded in May. This can be attributed to greater turbidity in the water from recent plankton blooms, which occur more often in summer in Puget Sound. Recent heavy rains may have also contributed to increased turbidity."

5. As noted in the monitoring report, plankton blooms may have been the cause of the lower light. They have also resulted in lower dissolved oxygen in parts of south Puget Sound. Part of the hatchery process includes large tanks of algae used for feeding the "seed" being grown. Where will that excess algae go? It is discharged into Spencer Cove. Given the concerns from lower dissolved oxygen in south Puget Sound from plankton die-offs, shouldn't this cumulative impact on waters of Puget Sound be considered?
6. Should the recent collapse of the geoduck market be considered as a factor in whether this permit is approved or not, and if so, whether it is conditioned to deal with a business failure?
7. Access to the proposed hatchery is along Yates Road, the same as that used to access the state park. How will the increased traffic be dealt with and who will pay for the required improvements?

Jobs are important. So is protecting Puget Sound's tidelands and its waters.

 

Northeast Harstine Island's lagoon

at the south end of Spencer Cove.

Proposed hatchery within the circle.

(click to enlarge)

 

Tideland ownership within lagoon in question

Located at the south end of Spencer Cove, the proposed facility is adjacent to a lagoon whose tidelands do not appear to have been sold by Washington. In a 2011 letter from DNR to Seattle Shellfish they noted the state had "never sold the tidleands" (see below). This issue is still unresolved as deeds from the state do not reference any tidelands having been sold.

 

From DNR to Seattle Shellfish

dated April 15, 2011.

Current use of tidelands

Seattle Shellfish has continued to use the tidelands still apparently owned by Washington and managed by DNR. Information submitted to Mason County by Confluence Environmental Company in August of this year notes it is being used for growing manila clams, oyster culture, and accessing company vessels.

 

From Confluence Environmental Company

report dated August 30, 2013. 

(Note: Confluence incorrectly refers to the tidal

lagoon as being Spencer Cove. Spencer Cove

is the larger body of water to the north, which

the smaller lagoon is part of, on the south.)

 

An expanding convenience - and value - for Seattle Shellfish, at the expense of tax payers? 

For Seattle Shellfish, the convenience of being able to use these tidelands to support its geoduck operations cannot be understated. Upland bags of PVC pipe are staged then loaded onto barges within the lagoon where they are then transported to nearby areas of Spencer Cove. There they are inserted into the tidelands, planted with geoduck, and covered with nets (see picture below). With the proposed upland hatchery supplying seed for Seattle Shellfish's geoduck nursery adjacent to the lagoon its convenience - and value - will only increase with time. At the expense of tax payers who appear to still own the lagoon's tidelands.

 

Spencer Cove Geoduck Farm

(click to enlarge)

 

Dive harvesting in Spencer Cove

(image created from satellite photo

of barges/divers in Spencer Cove)

 

 

 

Willapa Bay - A Proposal to Spice up The Chemical Soup* With Imidacloprid and Imazamox

New Chemicals Proposed

For the Chemical Soup*

Of Willapa Bay

 

(*Washington Attorney General's description of Willapa Bay, November 2012)

 

Public Notice
Washington's Department of Ecology has announced an upcoming public meeting and comment period for a proposal to add some "spice" to Willapa Bay, waters which Washington's Attorney General has described as a "chemical soup" (Public Notice is copied at the end of this post).  Proposed are the addition of the insecticide imidacloprid* to "control" burrowing shrimp and the herbicide imazamox to control Japanese eelgrass on commercial clam beds.

*Imidacloprid is within the class of Neonicotinoid pesticides which are believed to be a cause of honey bee colony collapse disorder. The European Union has voted to heavily restrict its use.

Chemically Treated Oysters

From Willapa Bay - Their "Merroir" Explained



One thing leads to another -

China's President Xi Jinping - Popping the Geoduck Bubble

Update 12/15/2013: China bans geoduck harvested from Washington due to elevated levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins and arsenic. There should be little surprise to the Chinese - nor the Department of Health - given many of these geoduck are harvested from sediments which lie in the plume of the old ARSACO smelter which left elevated levels of arsenic and lead in the sediments from where geoduck are harvested. See Dec. 14 post on the ban and June 10 post on sediment contamination in Puget Sound where shellfish are harvested from.

Update 9/1/2013: China’s crackdown on corruption ... has forced a decline in lavish banquets.- In another indication of the risks tideland owners take on when leasing tidelands to geoduck farmers PhysOrg has reported that China's crackdown on corruption continues to decrease lavish banquets. While the focus of the article is on shark fins sold in China, geoduck are included in that category. It is only the hyper-elite in China who are able to afford the geoduck. That price is not sustainable, especially as the younger and more educated population come to realize the size of a geocuck neck has nothing to do with male virility.

"...sales of shark fins had dropped more than 70 percent,

and sales of edible swallow nests,

the main ingredient of a $100-a-bowl delicacy,

were down 40 percent."

[click here for New York Times article] 

 

Market prices will not stay up forever.

 

"A half-dozen [geoduck] sold in a Hong Kong grocery

could fetch nearly enough cash

to make a four-figure mortgage payment."

[click here for Seattle Times article]

 

For a decade a small number of people have profited handsomely from China's unsustainable lust for geoducks grown in Puget Sound. For a decade agencies have allowed a small number of people to transform Puget Sound's intertidal tidelands into geoduck farms. China is changing and agency oversight in Washington needs to change with it.

All bubbles will pop.
Driven by nothing more than a superstitious belief in a geoduck's ability to endow its consumer with virility, prices in China have sky rocketed. Affordable by only the elite upper class of China it is only a matter of time before this bubble, like all unsustainable bubbles in the past, will pop. China's new president, Xi Jinping, is holding a big pin next to the geoduck bubble.

 

Only a matter of time.



 

President Xi Jinping's

gastronomic vision:

"4 dishes and a soup."



"If we don't redress unhealthy tendencies...

we will lose our roots, our lifeblood and our strength."

 

A new vision...
President Xi Jinping will be the president of China for the next decade and has made a point of curbing the wild spending of the past and displays of gluttony so prevalent by the elite in China, under the catch phrase of "4 dishes and a soup." As reported on page 46 of the February 9, 2013 issue of The Economist, "China's online public is ever more furious about a parade of corrupt officials, whose stories are far more compelling than any statistics." To help quell the public's anger and to show action is being taken, Chinese authorities are now "descending on restaurants in search of large tabs".

“Order according to your needs.”



No reservations needed.

At this Xiang Xi Qing restaurant

business is down 30%.

...followed by results.
Radical drops in the symbols of gastronomic excess are currently being experienced. As reported in today's New York Times, shark fin sales have dropped 70% and edible swallow nests were down 40%. More to the point, "So far, most victims of the frugality drive have been purveyors of the good life: high-end caterers, abalone wholesalers, five star hotels and makers of Yellow Pavilion cigarettes, the $300-carton brand coveted by the up-and-coming bureaucrats." [click here for article] Not mentioned specifically but included are geoducks.

Bubbles don't pop overnight...

Nasdaq stock market -1996 to Febrary 2000.

 

...but when they do it happens quickly.

Nasdaq stock market from February 2000 - November 2002

 

 

"weird market blips in China regarding geoducks" (Bill Taylor, September 2012)

Bubbles grow over time and never pop immediately, but when they do it is dramatic and many people are left holding nothing. Anyone who was invested between the time Alan Greenspan expressed concern about the "irrational exuberance" he saw in December of 1996, through November of 2002, watched over those 4 years as it rose 500%. In the following two years it fell below the level it was when Mr. Greenspan made his remark. In September of 2012, Bill Taylor with Taylor Shellfish noted geoduck prices in China were experiencing "weird market blips."

"Everything about geoduck is driven by China," said Mark Schaffel, who raises farmed geoducks for Olympia's Northwest Shellfish Company. (Seattle Times, April 21, 2012)
Geoduck in Washington used to be nothing more than a side ingredient used in clam chowder. Today they are an overpriced food item, selling for over $27/pound in Seattle, only because of China's "irrational exuberance." That exuberance is coming to an end, and with it, the support of the unsustainable price rise seen over the last five years. With it, the profits supporting geoduck farms throughout Puget Sound will come to an end.

Who will clean up the mess

and restore the tideland habitat 

when the geoduck market collapses?

Agencies need to act on the probability of a market collapse.
Agencies acting on permit applications cannot allow themselves to be blinded by the "irrational exuberance" seen in the current geoduck market. When prices fall, and they will, it will no longer be profitable for growers to maintain or harvest their farms. When that happens who will be responsible for restoring Puget Sound's tidelands? Washington taxpayers are already supporting the shellfish industry through state funded hatchery research and state funding of water quality testing. Minimal tax receipts are received and jobs created are jobs not wanted by the unemployed, filled instead through migrant worker programs. Will Washington taxpayers also be responsible for cleaning up the aftermath of a collapsed geoduck market?

 



Hood Canal Oysters Recalled

An outbreak of vibriosis has initiated a recall of oysters harvested after August 16 from Hood Canal's Area 5 (just north of the southern "Great Bend"). Vibriosis, caused by the naturally occurring bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) is an annual problem during the summer months for Washington's shellfish growers, moreso for those who become ill. Unlike most who contract vibriosis, reported cases are not getting better.

(from "Shellfish Safety", Department of Health)

(Note: The above numbers do not

include unreported cases, only those

confirmed by laboratory testing.)

Last year China banned the import of oysters from Washington State due to a similar outbreak and recall. Taylor Shellfish spokesman Bill Dewey responded: “This has wreaked havoc on our export business,” he said (Puget Sound Business Journal, 9/30/2011). Those who got ill were not interviewed for their response to what havoc, economic or otherwise, vibriosis caused in their lives.

In response to the FDA issuing a recall of the contaminated oysters last year, the shellfish industry sent a delegation of representatives, attorneys and lobbyists to Washington D.C. with this message for Congressman: "Despite seemingly adequate efforts by firms and SSCAs [State Shellfish Control Authorities], the FDA has unilaterally decided to elevate recalls and issue press releases which have unnecessarily alarmed consumers and had significant economic consequences on shellfish growers and distributors." (From the Pacific Shellfish Grower's Association's "FDA's Communications practices Hurth Shellfish Producers" handout dated February 2012.) It is unclear what "adequate efforts" industry lobbyists were referring to. What is clear is vibriosis is not under control.

As Governor Gregoire presses forward to expand the shellfish industry she should consider what she is leaving as her legacy. Scientists on her "Blue Ribbon Panel" have questioned whether the shellfish industry's expansion is something which should be promoted. Washington State's shellfish are causing increasing numbers of Vibriosis and other diseases. Warming temperatures can be expected to increase these numbers. She might consider listening to what her appointed scientists are saying.