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CASE INLET SHORELINE ASSOCIATION
Mission: Preserving and Protecting Pristine Case Inlet for Future Generations, Focusing on Community Stewardship, Education and Scientific Research.
info@caseinlet.org

Member of The Coalition to Preserve Puget Sound Habitat.  In association with: Protect our Shoreline, Henderson Bay Shoreline Association, APHETI, Mayo Cove Shoreline Association, Case Inlet Beach Association and Citizens of Harstine Island, Stretch Island, Anderson Island, Vashon Island and Jefferson County/Shine Beach.  Canadian Partners: Association for Responsible Shellfish Farming.

Chinook salmon


"  Salmon country has been plundered and hurt." 
"  We must now take the time and interest to help the creator to repair the damage to the home of the salmon.  If we take care of the salmon, the salmon will take care of us."
Paul Newman




Beautiful and pristine Case Inlet in South Puget Sound of Washington State is an arm of water between Key Peninsula on the east and Harstine Island on the west.  It's north end, called North Bay, reaches nearly to Hood Canal, creating the defining isthmus of the Kitsap Peninsula.  Case Inlet is the boundary between Pierce County and Mason County.  The southern end of Case Inlet is connected to the Nisqually Reach, part of the southern basin of Puget Sound.

The many coves, bays and estuaries of Case Inlet such as Rocky Bay, Vaughn Bay, North Bay and Dutcher Cove are all well known prime habitat to native salmon species such as Chinook, Coho, Chum, Steelhead and Sea Run Cutthroat, flatfish species such as Sole and Starry Flounder, and other important species such as Herring, Perch, and Rockfish.  Stretch Island, Reach Island, the Eastern shore of Harstine Island and Herron Island also support nearshore habitat in Case Inlet.  Numerous shorebird species include the American Bald Eagle and the elegant Great Blue Heron.

The shellfish aquaculture industry, along with the Washington State Department of Natural Resources plans to lease 15 acres per year of state owned tidelands in Puget Sound to the commercial geoduck industry.  This will result in as many as 653,400 (75 tons) of PVC tubes per acre or plastic 'tunnels' planted in the tidelands, in addition to those already placed in privately owned tidelands that are leased for industrial aquaculture.  It looks like this:


Geoduck tubes before installation of wildlife predator exclusion nets.


click above for slideshow

Besides the visual impact of millions of PVC tubes, commercial aquaculture threatens wildlife, water quality, beach erosion, silting of coves and estuaries, property values, recreational access and serenity.  Industrial aquaculture involves the placement of barges and obstructions in Case Inlet for planting and harvest activities and equipment storage.  Artificial lighting and diesel powered equipment is used.  Industrial aquaculture and the noise associated with such activities can occur day and night.  Case Inlet will be vastly altered by the planned scope of industrial aquaculture, which focuses on not only geoduck but also on other shellfish planting and harvesting.


The multi-million dollar commercial shellfish industry is a well funded and politically powerful alliance that until recently has been a largely unchecked force in the state of Washington.  They are aggressively pursuing leases for state owned public tidelands, and especially, private tidelands.  The shellfish industry feels that their industrial aquaculture interests far outweigh those of the people of Washington State:


" Private tidelands are misrepresented as residential/recreational beaches.  [Pierce] County must recognize that the primary purpose of privately held tidelands is shellfish farming and not residential recreation."
*Peter Downey, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Pierce County Council Meeting, January 15, 2007.

*Mr. Downey bases his comments on the Bush/Callow Acts of 1895.  Both Acts were repealed in 1935.  Both the Shoreline Management Act of 1971 and the common law Public Trust Doctrine do not recognize shellfish farming as the primary purpose of privately held tidelands.  The primary purpose of both public and private tidelands are for the public's use - including residential recreation. 

This powerful industry has clearly targeted Case Inlet as a desirable location for expansion of commercial operations because of the clean water and pristine beaches.  They wish to garner acreage wherever possible and exploit it by planting geoduck 'seedlings', four to a PVC tube, with approximately 43,000 PVC tubes per acre.  Other intensive aquaculture practices include clearing the beaches of rocks, shells, sand dollars, starfish, crab and any other species of nearshore wildlife that gets in the way.  Large canopy nets are used as predator exclusion, further altering the habitat.  Geoduck 'harvest' involves liquefying the sediment up to three feet down with powerful high volume water jets.  They intend to convert tidelands to industrial aquaculture use, using rotational and perpetual cultivation cycles, thereby vastly and permanently altering the tidelands, species diversity, and habitat.

Once the damage is done, it will be difficult or impossible to repair.  Allowing expansion of industrial aquaculture with no understanding of its long term effects poses a grave danger for Case Inlet and all who enjoy Case Inlet's pristine waters and beaches.

The shellfish aquaculture industry has not justified it's practices in relation to possible ecological impacts to forage fish, salmon, and nearshore habitat.  Jonathan Davis, a shellfish biologist for Taylor Shellfish Farms has stated, at the recent Sea Grant Symposium, that the dynamics between shellfish aquaculture and forage fish and salmon habitat is not well known or understood and needs to be studied further.  The shellfish industry and WSDNR should voluntarily agree to an immediate moratorium on expansion of geoduck aquaculture until research on the possible impacts to fish habitat have been completed.

Native wild Puget Sound salmon populations are down 92% from historic levels.  Shore bird populations are down 40% just in the last 20 years.  Given the aggressive expansion of intensive industrial shellfish aquaculture spearheaded by Taylor Shellfish Farms, Seattle Shellfish and Chelsea Shellfish, coupled with the mismanagement and incompetence at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, along with an indifference to objective scientific research by independent and qualified fisheries biologists,  we will continue to see dwindling salmon runs and supported native wildlife in Case Inlet.  



In 2000, Taylor Shellfish employees rake and remove aquatic vegetation in North Bay to make way for geoduck planting in violation of State guidelines.



"  Permitted uses in the shorelines of the state shall be designed and conducted in a manner to minimize, insofar as practical, any resultant damage to the ecology and environment of the shoreline area and any interference with the public's use of the water."
Shoreline Management Act of 1971



Totten Inlet

" Eelgrass density was depressed in summer by space competition with geoducks."  " When geoducks were harvested at the end of the experiment, eelgrass shoot density dropped by more than 70 percent." 
Geoduck aquaculture as perturbations to eelgrass, Ruesink & Rowell
Sea Grant presentation


Totten Inlet

" The artificial propagation of native and non-native fish and shellfish species in or adjacent to salmon EFH has the potential to adversely affect that habitat by altering water quality, modifying physical habitat, and creating impediments to passage."  "  Various methods of shellfish culture and harvest also have the potential to adversely impact salmon EFH, such as dredging in eel grass beds, off-bottom culture, raft and line culture, and the use of chemicals to control burrowing organisms detrimental to oyster culture." 
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission


Fresh geoduck planting, North Bay, 2000.  Once an area of expansive eelgrass, none exists there today.

" One of the greatest long-term threats to the viability of commercial and recreational fisheries is the continuing loss of marine, estuarine, and other aquatic habitats."   "  A National program...to insure conservation, to facilitate long-term protection of essential fish habitats."
Magnuson-Stevens Act


Infrared photo of aquaculture in eelgrass beds in Samish Bay
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Harstine & Stretch Island, North Bay

Numerous geoduck farm sites under private leases to Taylor Shellfish Farms and Seattle Shellfish have already been established on Harstine (Spencer Cove) and Stretch Island and many other areas of upper Case Inlet in Mason County.  In East Case Inlet, Pierce County, a large (one mile of shoreline) Taylor Shellfish Farms intertidal geoduck site exists near Joemma State Park, known as the Foss Farm.  Several leases have already been approved by Pierce County for Taylor Shellfish: near Vaughn and near Herron Island.  Click on links below for permits.

Stratford site--SSD 538699
Meyer site--SSD 538306
Rogers site--SSD 538323



Above, Taylor Shellfish Farms' new PVC geoduck tube installation at Stratford/Meyer site, Pierce County, July 20, 2009.
Notice of eelgrass boundary
Sound science on impacts to eelgrass 


Above, Taylor Shellfish Farms new PVC geoduck farm at Stratford/Meyer site, Pierce County, July 20, 2009. 
Taylor provided nothing more than 'sketches' of a test plot to prove this was an existing commercial site to qualify for the NWP 48 permit.  Residents will testify that there was no commercial operation here before March, 2007.  Never-the-less, the Army Corp of Engineers accepted this as evidence.  This farm was not registered with WDFW until July 30, 2009.
Stratford WDFW registration

Case Inlet North Bay, Taylor Shellfish, Mason County

Mason County continues to turn over sensitive nearshore habitat to the shellfish industry without a shoreline development permit process, without environmental impact statements, without independent or public review, without scientific assessments on impacts to salmon and fish habitat and impacts to sport fishermen and recreational boaters.  The North Bay Taylor shellfish lessors include a 27 acre tidelands parcel owned by Reginald Engman.  This parcel purportedly generates over $70,000. per year for Mr. Engman, not counting the percentage of harvest.  In spite of this windfall, Mr. Engman pays just $135. per year in taxes on the parcel.


Oyster bags, Taylor Shellfish, North Bay, Mason County


 " Cultivating shellfish in the South Sound results in the loss of shallow nearshore habitat and habitat diversity that is important to salmon."
The Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan,
South Sound Watershed Profile, 2007, Ch. 5, pg. 299.
 


Above, Taylor Shellfish, North Bay, spreading anti wildlife predator netting, barge with PVC tubes, July 4, 2008


" The legislature further finds that much of the shorelines of the state and the uplands adjacent thereto are in private ownership; that unrestricted construction on the privately owned or publicly owned shorelines of the state is not in the best public interest".  "This policy contemplates protecting against adverse effects to the public health, the land and its vegetation and wildlife, and the waters of the state and their aquatic life".
Shoreline Management Act of 1971  



Above, Taylor Shellfish, North Bay, inserting juvenile geoduck in plastic PVC tubes, July 4, 2008


" The legislature declares that the interest of all of the people shall be paramount in the management of shorelines of statewide significance".   "  (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."
Shoreline Management Act of 1971


Above, Taylor Shellfish North Bay, harvest by HVLP stinger, July 4, 2008

 "Habitat modification and the covering of the substrate with predator exclusion nets may thus adversely impact the production of harpacticoid copepods and other epibenthic organisms, and hence adversely impact the successful feeding of salmon rearing in the area".
The CSAS, (Canadian Science Advisory)
 review of the environmental impacts of intertidal shellfish aquaculture in Baynes Sound, 2001, page 44.

"It is generally acknowledged that the culture of bivalve molluscs may have a wide range of impacts on the habitat and community structure of coastal marine ecosystems."
CSAS, Indicators and Thresholds for Use in Assessing Shellfish Aquaculture Impacts on Fish Habitat, 2006, page 2.

"Our results suggest a net decrease in total shorebird use in areas developed for aquaculture."
California Fish and Game, Effects of Aquaculture on Habitat Use

Case Inlet Harstine Island, Spencer Cove, Stretch Island, Seattle Shellfish, Mason County

This Seattle Shellfish operation is about 33 acres consisting primarily of geoduck .  Several parcels totalling 26.5 acres are registered to Toebbe's Clam Farm.  If the geoduck densities here are similar to Taylor Shellfish's Foss site, the value of these 2 parcels could be in excess of $40 million.
Yet the combined parcel taxes are less than $45. per year. 
parcel 1     parcel 2

Seattle Shellfish also has geoduck and shellfish aquaculture operations in Pierce County, just south of Joemma Beach State Park.  This 40 acre tidelands parcel is owned by the YMCA (parcel number 0020164001).  None of the required permits were obtained for this commercial operation.

Click here for aerial photos of North Bay (Taylor Shellfish) and
Harstine Island Spencer Cove (Seattle Shellfish)


Above, Seattle Shellfish, Harstine Island, Spenser Cove, tractor contouring beach in WDFW potential forage fish habitat area, July 4, 2008


From WDFW Salmonscape (above)

" Seeding of young geoducks in netted PVC tubes on the beach is likely to alter local physical and biological conditions, both those on the surface of the sediment and those in the sediment."
Marine Surveys and Assessments, Dethier, Leitman and Mathews




Above, Seattle Shellfish, Harstine Island, Spenser Cove, kiddy pool geoduck incubators, loose PVC tubes, July 4, 2008.
The shellfish industry was asked to remove the pools from all beaches by Mason County.  The pools require permit
review by Mason County through the Shoreline Master Program if they are to be used.

The CSAS (Canadian Science Advisory), in a review of the effects of shellfish aquaculture on fish habitat, in 2006 on pages 33-34 (25-26) states: “Field studies reported in the same study found that mussels consumed (based on stomach content analysis) copepods (<1.5 mm), crab zoeas (2mm), fish eggs (1-2mm), and even amphipods (5-6mm). Subsequent to this, Lehane and Davenport (Lehane and Davenport 2002) showed that mussels consumed organisms up to 3mm in length and that cockles (Cerastoderma edule) and scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) are also capable of consuming considerable quantities of zooplankton, both when suspended in the water column and when on the bottom. The size classes of organisms consumed in these studies suggest that the larvae of most commercial species may be at risk from this type of predation.”  The logical inference is that intertidal geoduck could consume the larvae of forage fish (surf smelt and sand lance) which are critical food for salmon.  The geoduck could also compete with forage fish for phytoplankton.

Influence of Intertidal Aquaculture on Benthic Communities in Pacific Northwest Estuaries: Scales of Disturbance, Simenstad/Fresh 1995, page 23 (65). "Management strategies that fail to consider the tolerance of estuaries to anthropogenic disturbance, such as that posed by intensive aquaculture, may well threaten the sustainability of estuarine resources and ecosystem processes upon which coastal economies depend.  Estuaries have a critical role in the life histories of many economically and ecologically important animals. Salmon, herring, smelt, crab and flatfish feed in Pacific Northwest estuaries…and several species of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds feed on the large invertebrate production that occurs on the mudflats…".  "Growth and survival of animals in estuaries not only depends on specific habitats but on linkages between habitats and areas with the estuary."


Dead herring trapped by anti-predator netting in Baynes Sound, B.C., March, 2009.  Thousands of herring were killed by Manila clam aquaculture netting
on Denman Island during herring spawning season.  (Photos courtesy of Denman Island Marine Stewardship Committee)


"The herring were caught and died under the netting whether the nets were properly secured or not."
"Not all the fish were under the netting - some were caught on top".  "The herring did spawn on the netting".
Member, DIMSC


Herring spawn visible on anti-predator netting.

The CSAS, in a report titled: ASSESSING HABITAT RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH BIVALVE AQUACULTURE IN THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT, in 2006 on page 5 states:

"Effects on fish habitat can extend beyond site-specific footprints and lease monitoring does not allow broad-scale, ecosystem-level effects to be understood or measured. Measurements of variables in far-field benthic and pelagic habitats are needed because deductions from existing ecological knowledge indicate possibilities for altered system states."

Page 7:  "The literature on the effects of bivalve aquaculture on sensitive habitats is currently fragmented and not conclusive."

Page 8: "Shellfish aquaculture often occurs in sheltered bays and estuaries because they offer suitable substrate. Such areas are often highly productive environments and key habitats for many migratory species. Work is required to study how potential impacts of bivalve culture (human activity, presence of structures on the seabed and in the water etc.) influence species in these ecosystems."  "Given the almost complete lack of knowledge on the types of habitat that may be negatively affected by shellfish aquaculture, more research on sensitive habitat is needed."

Page 9: "Work is needed to identify thresholds values that represent significant changes in fish habitat as indicators of shellfish aquaculture effects on pelagic communities."

In Technical Report 2007-03, Marine Forage Fishes in Puget Sound by Dan Penttila of the WS Dept. of Fish and Wildlife: "These agencies (WA Dept. of Agriculture, WA Dept. of Natural Resources) together with WA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife should seek a coordinated approach to the management of the growing aquaculture industry, with an eye toward modification of habitat-damaging culture practices and the mitigation of existing habitat degradation for which the industry has been responsible."    "The bulk of the Puget Sound Basin’s shoreline is now in private ownership. The likelihood of continued financial and political pressure for shoreline modification by a landownership population largely ignorant of nearshore resource values and conservation risks is high."
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"In some instances, mollusk farming has harmed the marine environment by depriving wild filter feeders of food (FAO, 1991) and generating anoxic sediments through feces deposition (Grant et al., 1995; Kaspar et al., 1985).
  Pew Oceans Commission, 2001, Marine Aquaculture in the United States, Goldburg

"Anti predator netting should not be permitted unless ongoing studies show little to no negative impacts."  "This practice of proceeding until there is proof of damage is in direct opposition to the 'precautionary approach' required under The Oceans Act."
"Studies on the impacts of phytoplankton depletion on marine ecosystems must be undertaken before this industry is allowed to expand."
"The 'precautionary principle' must be applied to alien species...the risks are unacceptably high."
"Expansion should not proceed until all studies, including cumulative effect studies, have been completed."
David Suzuki Foundation, Sustainable Shellfish Executive Summary 

Protect and Restore the Marine Nearshore Habitat Complex
"Therefore, it is the complex of habitats, composed of varying substrate types, vegetation types, tidal stages, and other physical, chemical, and biological factors that support salmon in the nearshore."  "Protecting and restoring the natural processes that form and maintain habitats is the key to success.  The natural processes that form and maintain habitat in the nearshore serve as the foundation of the structure and functions that support salmon.  Disruption of sediment and prey inputs, changes in hydrology and other processes results in a chain reaction, ultimately leading to lost or dysfunctional habitat for salmon.  Impediments to natural processes need to be prevented or removed to allow for conditions conducive to salmon production."
"For juvenile Chinook salmon in the smallest size classes examined (less than 90mm), diets were made up mostly of benthic/epibenthic prey."
"The types of habitat responsible for prey production, the life history requirement of prey, and the seasonal and spatial patterns of prey abundance and distribution are important considerations in salmon conservation."
Juvenile Salmonid Composition, King County 

"The intertidal regions that had been used for (shellfish) farming for 3 and 5 years had lower species richness...as compared to the intertidal region where no active farming occurred."  "...studies are needed to determine the scale to which intensive use of the foreshore for shellfish purposes alone is feasible without undue harm to the environment."
Bendel-Young, L.I.  2006

"When large numbers of filter feeders are introduced into a limited source environment, the effect on the already existing population could be drastic."
Hasbrouck, E.G.  1998

"The development of shellfish farming activities causes great changes in ecosystems functioning."
Mazouni, N., J.C. Gaertner, and J.M. Deslous-Paoli.  1998

"Shellfish aquaculture could have a large impact on small cetaceans."
Watson-Capps, J.J., and J. Mann.  2005

"Hatchery raised smolts of Chinook salmon were released into a large intertidal pen containing eelgrass, oyster clusters, unstructured sediment, and Spartina cordgrass.  They were implanted with acoustic tags that allowed their movements to be tracked in 2 dimensions at sub meter accuracy.  After effects of tidal elevation and enclosure were accounted for, smolts responded only to native eelgrass..."
Semmens, B.X.  2006.  PhD Department of Biology, University of Washington

"It is an impossibly high standard to expect that bivalve aquaculture will not have any discernable effects on the ecosystem."  "Effects on the ecosystem is a subjective assessment, and what level of change is permissible needs to be defined by discussion and consensus among all stakeholders."
Dr. Roger Newell, Horn Point Labratory

"Juvenile salmonids have the greatest potential to be impacted by geoduck culture."
Entrix, 2004

"Many pink and chum salmon populations spawn very close to the ocean or even in the intertidal zone."
"In intertidal habitats, diet overlap for ocean type Chinook salmon was greatest with Starry flounder."
"Several studies have pointed out the especially large contribution of harpacticoid copepods in the diets of juvenile salmon in estuaries."
"...the survival of ocean type Chinook released from hatcheries was positively correlated with the percentage of the estuary in natural condition."
The Behavior and Ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout, Thomas Quinn, 2005

"The salmon's dilemma goes back to the arrival of the first Euro-Americans in the Northwest.  Unfortunately for the salmon, the settlers also brought their worldview and their industrial economy.  They saw a fearful wilderness that had to be tamed, simplified and controlled.  They saw the vast resources they needed to feed their voracious industrial economy.  Their vision naturally directed them to reconstruct the Northwest to make it more like the places they came from than the place it was."
"...it has been shown very clearly that the salmon restoration efforts to date, even though they have been well funded, have failed.  They have failed because they are largely derived from the same worldview and assumptions that created the problem in the first place."
"This dominant worldview defines ecosystems as warehouses for the storage and production of commodities, insists that humans stand apart from those ecosystems, and demands that they control, manipulate, and "improve" them."
"The earth itself was seen as a giant factory "furnished by the great engineer."  People had the mission of subduing the wild elements, of ridding the land of animals and plants that were useless to humans, and of bringing the whole system under efficient control.  The fundamental goals of dominating, controlling, and manipulating nature for human use were deeply embedded in western culture." 
"If we are to have any hope of restoring the salmon to sustainable levels of abundance, we will have to begin by paying more attention to the salmon's world - not as it exists today, but as it existed before we simplified, controlled, and "improved" it.  And in our restoration efforts, we must address entire watersheds - the whole chain of salmon habitat, from headwaters to estuaries - and then beyond, to the ocean."
Salmon Without Rivers, A History of the Pacific Salmon Crisis, Jim Lichatowich, 1999

"…loss of open estuarine foraging habitat to aquaculture is likely to have a negative impact on shorebird populations."  

 Joseph Gaydos

South Sound Science Symposium
                                                                                             
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  Restore America's Estuaries statements:

"There are 28 million jobs in the fishing, tourism and recreational boating industries -- all of which depend on healthy estuaries for their products and customers. Indeed, estuaries and coastal waters provide essential habitat for 75% of America's commercial fish catch and 80 to 90% of the recreational fish catch." 

"180 million Americans -- approximately 70% of the entire population -- visited estuaries in 1993 for vacations, recreation, sport, or sightseeing. They enjoyed swimming, fishing, boating, diving, wildlife viewing, hunting, hiking, and learning." 

"Help our children learn.  Estuaries are a matchless educational resource that must be maintained as living laboratories of life."

"For the most part, the loss in each estuary is an accumulation of small development and other projects. The destruction of estuary habitat is surprising in its extent and severity, amounting to tens of millions of acres destroyed.  Estuaries will suffer 'death from a thousand cuts' if this loss of habitat is not stopped and reversed now."

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 "  While I believe that people should be able to do what they want with their property, the trouble with it (geoduck farming) is it’s a commercial operation in a residential environment."  "It becomes very disruptive."  "It (geoduck farming) is dangerous, destructive and obtrusive to the people who want to exercise freedoms on the water to try and allow this type of commercial activity to occur when you most likely would be using that water frontage..."
  Pierce County Councilman Terry Lee   

     "  If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it."
Lyndon B. Johnson

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
  Native American Proverb

When you defile the pleasant streams
And the wild bird's abiding place,
You massacre a million dreams
And cast your spittle in God's face.
John Drinkwater

"There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed."
Mohandas K. Gandhi

"We are in danger of destroying ourselves due to greed and stupidity."
Stephen Hawking

"Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."
Chief Seattle, 1854

"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community.  It is wrong when it tends otherwise."  "Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient."  "Harmony with land is like harmony with a friend; you cannot cherish his right hand and chop off his left."
Aldo Leopold

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment."
Ansel Adams
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