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How Much Plastic Do You Want In Your Orcas and Salmon?
Concerns about plastic in our marine environments are increasing—as they should! Every week new articles appear across news media and scientific journals, documenting the marine plastics disaster. The devastating impacts, and escalating dangers are clear. So we ask, “How much plastic do you want in your orcas and salmon?” Similarly, “How much plastic will we tolerate in our marine ecosystems?” Governor Inslee establishes Southern Resident Killer Whale Recovery and Task Force with Executive Order 18-02 READ THE ORDER The geoduck aquaculture industry embeds approximately 8 miles of PVC pipe per acre in pristine intertidal habitat areas of...
Read MoreCenter for Food Safety Files Suit to Protect WA Coastal Waters
Portland, OR—Today [August 17, 2017], Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a federal lawsuit to stop the Trump administration, through its U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), from greenlighting a massive expansion of industrial shellfish aquaculture in Washington state coastal waters. Industrial aquaculture already threatens Washington’s iconic and invaluable shorelines and bays, which are home to numerous marine species, including endangered salmon. However, the new 2017 permit issued by the Trump administration and now challenged in this case would allow an enormous expansion of the $100-million-dollar-a-year Washington state aquaculture industry, without any...
Read MoreCoalition Turns Up Heat as Army Corps Shirks Responsibility
The Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat filed a Supplemental Complaint with the US District Court’s Western Division on June 5, 2017. The complaint addresses ongoing and expanding harm to the Puget Sound ecosystem caused by the rapid expansion of industrial agriculture. The Supplementary Complaint details the many levels of damage directly caused by industrial activity on Puget Sound, and makes explicit the responsibilities of the US Army Corps under the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act to regulate aquaculture and protect Puget Sound. The Corps has completely abandoned these responsibilities and has maintained a blanket aquaculture...
Read MoreShellfish Growers Netting Off Puget Sound Shorelines
The Coalition is hearing from more and more citizens about the negative impacts of industrial aquaculture practices in area waters. These images depict a small part of those impacts—in the form of plastic netting used in geoduck production. These nets, combined with other practices used throughout the geoduck production cycle on these tidelands, restrict the natural ecosystem, as well as citizens’ own access to the natural beauty of Puget...
Read MoreGeoduck Rule Criticized as Farming Expands
In this KING-5 report from August 14, 2015, Taylor Shellfish spokesperson Bill Dewey admits that geoduck aquaculture practices result in plastic pollution in Puget Sound, and offers to “work with neighbors” to find alternatives. With your help, the Coalition is working hard to hold the industry to this pledge.
Read MorePesticide Use On Shorelines Carries Heavy Risks
The following pesticides are sprayed either manually or aerially on Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor shellfish beds causing environmental and human health concerns: Carbaryl—Eradicates native ghost shrimp and could harm other benthic species. Known to adversely effect salmon. Imazapyr—Eradicates spartina. Glysophate—Eradicates spartina. A recent study* on the effects of glysophate-based herbicides states: “Pesticides may be involved in oyster summer mortality events, not necessarily as a single causative agent but as an additional stressor.” Imazamox—Eradicates Zostera japonica eelgrass, but is known to also eliminate nearby native eelgrass. Adverse...
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