Burley Lagoon Residents Complain of Putrid Smell, Clams Die Off: A "Preferred Use" of the tidelands?

"Particularly pungent smells 

may come from the beach when a common type of seaweed 

known as sea lettuce decays 

in an environment with low dissolved oxygen."

(Department of Ecology, "Focus on Saltwater Beach Odors")

Promoting and enhancing the public interest or industrial scale aquaculture?
After weeks of residents along the shoreline of Burley Lagoon complaining about a putrid smell so strong it has prevented many from enjoying the air outside of their homes, it appears there has been a clam die off to go along with it. To hear Taylor Shellfish discuss their "rights" under the Shoreline Management Act, the state and counties are to do nothing but promote and enhance aquaculture, prioritizing it over all other water dependent uses, believing it is in the statewide interest to do so. Even if it means what Burley Lagoon is experiencing.

Dead Clams in Burley Lagoon

Clean net placed too late?

The smell of politics.
Pierce County responded sources of the smell could be "Ulva" (aka Sea Lettuce, a native vegetative seaweed) so thick it smells of rotten eggs as it decays. Another source mentioned could be leaking septic fields. Not mentioned is that it could also be the carrying capacity of Burley Lagoon has been exceeded by Taylor Shellfish's intensive and industrial level of planting of clams and oysters, resulting in shellfish rotting as they die off, unable to survive due to the density of planting. Or it could be a combination of these or other things. Whatever it is, the stench is overwhelming and impacts enjoyment and use of the shoreline, whether a resident or a member of the public trying to enjoy the aquatic environment in Pierce County.

Maybe the nets just need 

a "good industrial scraping".

(Samish Bay, WA)

Do structures in the tidelands need bigger machines on the tidelands?

Long time residents of Burley Lagoon have stated they do not recall a stench so intense in all of their years living there, some for decades. What they also do not recall are the number of "predator nets"  which Taylor Shellfish uses to keep native species from feeding off of the sediments, or the expansive area covered. Nor do they recall the intensity of planting which is occurring, whether it be clams or nonnative Pacific oysters. As seen in the Samish Bay photo above, in order to deal with the heavy growth on their predator nets, Taylor partnered with New Holland and implemented the use of a tractor and a "street sweeper" to clear the nets there of Sea Lettuce so thick it prevents clams below from surviving. Algae which apparently exists in higher densities due to this artificial structure which has been placed over the tidelands of Burley Lagoon and on oysters planted in high densities.

It's not rocket science. It's "Ecosystem Services".

Oysters poop, seaweed grows, clams die. Ecosystem services at work.

As noted in an August 2017 "Ecosystem Services" winning picture, one source of the problem is directly related to oyster feces, their pseudo feces, associated ammonia, and shell surface area provided by high density planting of oysters. Oysters poop and provide "fertilizer". On the surface of those shells macro algae attaches and thrives on the "nutrients" expelled by the nonnative Pacific oysters. That growth is so intense oyster growth slows and clams rise to the surface. Summertime low tides and summertime heat promote decay and death. Smells emanate. Because of aquaculture. It's not rocket science. Calling it "ecosystem services" deflects attention from dealing with the problem created.

This is not "enhancing" the public interest

and is exactly what the Shoreline Management Act

was designed to prevent from happening

to Puget Sound tidelands.

(Read RCW 98.58.020 to see

intended preferences of the SMA)

"promote and enhance the public interest" - not industrial aquaculture

The Shoreline Management Act was created in response to industrial levels of activities impacting the shorelines of Puget Sound. It was not created to promote the industrial level of activities the shellfish industry has since evolved into. Activities and impacts which lower the statewide ability to enjoy the shorelines of Washington State. The Pierce County Council, in reluctantly passing their updated Shoreline Master Program, listened to Taylor Shellfish complain, even after additional changes were made to accommodate their industry, that more needs to be done in order for their industry to profit from tidelands and public waters. 

(Read August 28 letter from attorneys for Taylor Shellfish and the Foss family's North Bay Partners here: https://app.box.com/s/na0wpgwm4mjp7b41toj1iaf533iecij2)

Yes - Washington needs to change its laws.

"Maddening": Banning plastic straws and promoting PVC tubes in Puget Sound.

Most of what is noted in the Taylor/North Bay letter was addressed by Pierce County, yet still, Diane Cooper rose to state before the public and the council, not enough had been done for them. In response, most council members agreed, the state needs to change the law if, in fact, that is what Taylor Shellfish and others are relying on to promote their industry over other water dependent uses. [Read what the legislators who passed the SMA intended, here:

 https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=90.58.020, where it states counties, in developing their Shoreline Master Programs:

"shall give preference to uses in the following order of preference which:
(1) Recognize and protect the statewide interest over local interest;
(2) Preserve the natural character of the shoreline;
(3) Result in long term over short term benefit;
(4) Protect the resources and ecology of the shoreline;
(5) Increase public access to publicly owned areas of the shorelines;
(6) Increase recreational opportunities for the public in the shoreline;
(7) Provide for any other element as defined in RCW 90.58.100 deemed appropriate or necessary."]

Get involved.
Use of structures and methods which create an environment from which odors emanate that are so strong as to prevent the public's enjoyment of the tidelands and shorelines is only one example showing how this industry is out of control. Pierce County agrees that laws promoting this need to change and will become active in the state to change this lopsided interpretation of a law intended benefit all in the state, not just a few corporations.

The Great Migration of PVC to Puget Sound Tidelands Begins

Daylight minus tides arrive in April

and with them comes 

the 'Great Migration of PVC' to south Puget Sound

Minus tides bring much to light.

Like the great migrations of swallows returning to Capistrano or salmon returning to spawn in the gravel beds they were created in, so too do the tons of PVC pipe and mesh tubing used by the shellfish industry return to south Puget Sound when the daylight minus tides arrive in Spring. 8" PVC tubes placed one per square foot are used to grow geoduck for the elite in China, the only ones who can afford the $100/pound price. At the expense of Puget Sound's lowest and most unique intertidal area.

In Governor Inslee's "Green State"

plastic straws and plastic bags are banned. 

PVC pipes and HDPE bags in Puget Sound?

"It's habitat." 

So is an oil drilling platform.

That doesn't mean it belongs in Puget Sound.

Loose PVC tubes in South Puget Sound.

Comment from shellfish employee: 

"Geoduck push them out, 

and unless there is a major wind event, they'll stay put."

Except they don't, with wave energy and tidal currents

moving the tubes throughout the marine habitat area.

Not to mention what a mess it is.

Get involved and make a difference in life today and for the future. Help support those trying to preserve and restore Washington's critical marine habitat, an area unique to Puget Sound and which the shellfish industry sees as little more than a template to generate profits from. Whether protecting the waters from from pesticide application in Willapa Bay or excessive permitting for shellfish operations, these groups are making a difference. 

Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat: http://coalitiontoprotectpugetsoundhabitat.org/

Center for Biological Diversity: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/about/

Center for Food Safety: https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/about-us

And tell Governor Inslee that if he's going to run for the presidential office as a "green politician" he should consider what's going on in Puget Sound under his leadership as Governor.

What Geoduck Tariffs Mean to Puget Sound: Good Bye Honey, Things have Changed

Packin' Up, Movin' Out

Goodbye Honey Bucket

Will this really be missed?

(and did this mess get to where it was going?)

What could possibly go wrong?

According to recent press releases, geoduck farmers are "freaking out" over the recent 25% tariff imposed on geoduck grown in Puget Sound. The Chinese, in one action, may have done more to preserve and possibly restore Puget Sound's intertidal area than a decade of efforts from people concerned over the transformation brought on by PVC at planting and liquification of sediments at harvesting. While unknown whether it will last, what is becoming clear is some companies seem to be standing on thin legs and are at risk of failure.

Money for Nothin'

Kicks for Free

At the Expense of Puget Sound's 

Intertidal Habitat

(and your leased tidelands)

"You'll get rich. And, if not, well, they're your tidelands, not mine."

A recent opinion piece in the Seattle Time by Jim Gibbons, founder of Seattle Shellfish, stated prices have dropped 40% due to the tariff imposed. Worried about whether his business will be able to survive, he wrote he will be curtailing "growth" and cutting back on planting. Whether the cutting back and curtailments will occur on leased tidelands, whose owners were told of great wealth to come for doing nothing from these leases, or on tidelands privately held by Seattle Shellfish, was not made clear. What was made clear is that the founder of Seattle Shellfish is concerned about a breach in the moat which had surrounded this industry's model.

In the end,

aren't we all brothers?

Panopea japonica, Panopea generosa

"both nuclear genes revealed low genetic divergence 

between P. generosa and P. japonica"

North Korea's new secret weapon threatening the northwest: Panopea japonica?

In the piece penned by Mr Gibbons, he noted Puget Sound is not the only place the Chinese are able to source geoduck. He notes Mexico, Canada and North Korea as alternatives (not mentioned was New Zealand). In a 2015 study on genetic differences between "geoduck" from different geographic areas, the point was made that there was a "low genetic divergence" between geoduck from the northwest and Asia. So why would someone pay exorbitant prices for something grown in the US when close to the same thing, if not the same thing, is able to be grown and harvested in Asian waters? They won't. And for that reason, Mr. Gibbons, Bill Dewey with Taylor Shellfish, and a myriad of small operators,  rightly worry that in fact, a moat has been breached and things have changed.

The Legal and Enviromental Implications of the Washington Shellfish Initiative: Is it Sustainable?

A piece written by Lindsey Ward and published in May of 2014, in the Seattle Journal of Environmental Law, looks at what was then, the first unilateral launch by the executive branch of Washington of the Shellfish Initiative. Almost two years later, in January of 2016, Governor Inslee launched his version, Phase 2 of the Washington Shellfish Initiative. Lost on the now re-elected Governor is:

"...its directives fall far from the Initiative’s claim of enhancing and protecting this valuable resource in a sustainable manner."

The law article notes further:

"Primarily, the environmental consequences of implementing the Initiative pose massive and irreparable consequences for the environment. Specifically, by streamlining the permitting process for commercial shellfish aquaculture, encouraging noncompliant updates of local shoreline regulations, allowing further introduction and cultivation of nonnative species, increasing shellfish density, and failing to adequately address pollution, the Initiative may ultimately cause a loss of many of its native plant and animal species as well as the unique functions they serve."

Developed in the article is the background of the industry, how the Shellfish Initiative came to be, risks inherent to promoting the expansion of an industrial activity within the critical marine ecosystem which the intertidal area makes up, and the interplay between the Shoreline Management Act and Shoreline Master Programs various government entities are required to create through its guidelines.

While written over two years ago, the risks it details are still there and, perhaps most important, on the verge of becoming a reality. "Streamlined permitting" at the local level and minimizing, if not eliminating, national oversight with the new administration are on the verge of opening the door to a massive expansion of industrial shellfish operations throughout Puget Sound, whether in the intertidal areas or massive floating raft structures to grow mussels beneath.

Some will argue with the nuances of legal interpretations presented. Some will argue the article is over two years old and things have changed. What cannot be argued is there is a significant cumulative impact overtaking Puget Sound's intertidal ecosystem which, if not held in check, will forever transform this rare treasure available to all citizens. Questionable "certifications of sustainability" do not make it so.

July Starts with Minus Tides for July 4th

Low tide at

McMicken Island Marine State Park

A "tombolo" connects the state park

to Harstine Island at low tide.

Daylight mid-day minus tides start the month of July. Get out and see what's exposed when the waters of Puget Sound recede to one of their lowest levels. Temperatures are forecast to be in their 70's on the 4th when the lowest tide at McMicken Island Marine State Park will be -3.1, just after noon, at 12:15PM.

tide table from -

http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly.php/mcmk/2016-07

McMicken Island Marine State Park in

South Puget Sound

 At low tide a sand bar is exposed which connects

McMicken Island to Harstine Island.

McMicken Island Marine State Park

(note submerged "tombolo" connection

McMicken Island to Harstine Island)

You don't know what a treasure Puget Sound is if you don't get out. It's worth protecting because once it's gone you can't get it back.

It's Summer: Barges of PVC for Puget Sound's Tidelands to Grow Geoduck for China

The movie left an impression

on the young Governor.

(Pictures of PVC below from June 2016)

Barges of "totes" filled with PVC -

-destined for Puget Sound's tidelands.

Followed by bundles of PVC for the same.

Thank you Governor Inslee and Taylor Shellfish.

You've left a lasting impression

for your grandchildren.

Center for Biological Diversity Files Petition with EPA for Regulation of PVC

Where do all those PVC tubes go

after 2 years in Puget Sound?

What leaches off of the  ~40,000/acre

used for geoduck farms?

 

Center for Biological Diversification Files Petition with EPA

The Center for Biological Diversification has filed a petition with the EPA asking for increased regulatory oversight of PVC products such as the 8" pipes used in geoduck farming. CBD provides a wealth of studies and information which document the risks to the marine environment from PVC degradation. [see petition here]

 

"Choking the Oceans with Plastic"

NY Times, August 25, 2013

Case Inlet, Puget Sound

Escaped PVC pipes from geoduck farm.

 

Aquaculture is part of a bigger problem, but it is poised to become a much bigger part of the problem

Escaped PVC, netting and rope from aquaculture in Puget Sound is only part of a larger problem of escaped plastics in the ocean. But it is a growing problem and poised to expand immensely. As Charles Moore notes in his editorial entitled "Chocking the Oceans with Plastic", printed in the New York Times on August 25:

The problem is compounded by the aquaculture industry, which uses enormous amounts of plastic in its floats, nets, lines and tubes.

Help put the brakes on plastic pollution in Puget Sound
You can help stop the risk to Puget Sound and the upland areas where the PVC pipes are disposed of when no longer useable. Contact your County Commissioners and tell them as creators of the Shoreline Master Programs which implement the intended goal of the Shoreline Management Act to protect Puget Sound's tidelands you demand PVC pipes be tightly controlled, from cradle to grave, in not entirely banned.

Click here for Thurston County contact information
Click here for Mason County contact information
Click here for Pierce County contact information