July 16th: Meeting on Taylor Shellfish Sustainability Rating at Griffin Hall

Get Involved - Thursday July 16th: Community meeting 3-5 pm at Griffin Hall, 3707 Steamboat Lp NW, Olympia to discuss "sustainability" certification of Taylor Shellfish.

 

Sustainable? Taylor Shellfish believes so.

 

 

Email comments to:

Juan Aguirre, JAguirre@scsglobalservices.com

Include:

a - Name and contact details

b - Your association with the farm

c - Issues you would like to discuss

Also helpful are pictures or studies you may have.

 

Sustainable? Taylor Shellfish believes so.

 

 

Juan Aguirre with SCS will hold a public meeting from 3 to 5 PM at Griffin Hall to discuss the sustainability certification Taylor Shellfish is attempting to acquire on a "cluster" of farms located in Totten Inlet, Skookum Inlet, and Oakland Bay.

 

Standards by which Taylor Shellfish will be judged may be found here (why ASC and not Monterey Bay?):
http://www.asc-aqua.org/upload/ASC%20Bivalve%20Standard_v1.0.pdf

 

The "public notice" which announced the south Puget Sound certification process is found here:

http://www.asc-aqua.org/upload/1_20150611_Taylor%20Shellfish_South%20Sound%20SS-A_ANNOUNCEMENT.pdf

 

Get involved. Taylor Shellfish is and they helped create the very standards by which they are to be "judged".

 

Pierce County Shoreline Master Program Update Meeting: July 21, 1:30

When - Monday, July 21
Where - County-City Building, Room 1045, 930 Tacoma Ave. S, Tacoma
What - Discussion of additional amendments to Pierce County's Shoreline Master Program update.

Onwards and upwards
Following a series of meetings at which Pierce County was challenged by shoreline owners and the conservative land use group "Freedom Foundation"  who felt a "taking" was occurring through proposed shoreline regulations,  Pierce County cancelled scheduled public meetings about their Shoreline Master Program update. The County felt there were too many pressures to deal with and amendments to address them could not be developed within the proposed schedule.

July 21, 24 amendments - let's try again
 The Community Development Committee has now re-scheduled a meeting for July 21 to discuss newly proposed amendments and presumably those proposed earlier. No voting will occur but comments will be accepted. The County web site currently lists 24 amendments. Previous public meetings which had been scheduled in the evening throughout the county in early evening times, more convenient for citizens to participate in, were canceled. The current meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 21, at 1:30PM.

Aquaculture - better hurry up and get them permitted now
Of the amendments listed there are X specifically noted as being related to aquaculture. Number 23 addresses monitoring. Number 21 would incorporate all aquaculture related amendments that were approved prior to consideration of Ordinance 2013-45s. Number 10, among other things, prohibits the use of pesticides in shellfish cultivation. Number 9 expands on the requirements for cumulative impacts analysis, including when they proposal takes place within an enclosed body of water (e.g. Burley Lagoon). Number 8 extends the non-conforming discontinued use period to three years from two.

Number 22: rights of the people
Included in the amendments is one introduced by Republican Jim McCune which states:

No person shall be deprived of property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. 

It is unclear whether the perspective that the rights of the people should include the right to expect that the shorelines of Washington will be protected as the Shoreline Management Act provides and for which the counties are responsible.

Mason County Shoreline Master Program Update Hearings Scheduled

Mason County has published a "Public Notice" and the Shelton-Mason County Journal has written on two important upcoming workshops on the County's Shoreline Master Program Draft Policies and Regulations. They will be held:

January 28, 6PM at 411 North 5th Street, Shelton

February 11, 6PM at 411 North 5th Street, Shelton (aquaculture will be discussed at the this meeting)

To view differences between the existing "Policies" and "Regulations" and those proposed, click on either of the two links here:
[click here for "red line" Policies]
[click here for "red line" Regulations]

Also available is an interactive map of Mason County to find such things as how waterfront areas are defined (e.g., nature; conservancy; etc.), where beach front armoring (i.e., bulkheading) is located, or public beach front access is found. (Despite a wealth of current information available, not found are where current shellfish operations are located.) [click here for interactive map]