Taylor Shellfish Farms officials continue to move forward with plan for a 30-acre geoduck farm in Dungeness Bay, but not without community questioning.

The later half of the Dungeness River Management Team meeting Feb. 11 was devoted to Taylor officials in order to answer public inquiries pertaining to the geoduck farm anticipated in Dungeness Bay.

About 50 interested residents came with questions for Bill Dewey, the Taylor Shellfish Farms spokesman, and Marlene Meaders, senior marine biologist with Confluence Environmental Company, representing the largest producer of farmed shellfish in the United States, Taylor Shellfish Farms.

The company already has about 80 acres of geoduck-specific aquaculture in Puget Sound, but the farm in Dungeness Bay would be its largest – trumping its 16-acre geoduck farm in Discovery Bay.

“We’re looking forward to be able to move into Clallam County,” Dewey said. “And we’re committed to working with the communities in which we farm.”

First Clallam farm

Although only half of the geoducks Taylor Shellfish Farms staff harvest are sold within the United States, Dewey said the industry creates jobs and estimates one full-time position required for every harvestable acre.

“Because this location (Dungeness Bay) is distanced from our base (Shelton) I would expect most of the jobs will come from Clallam County,” he said.

Taylor officials plan to stagger planting juvenile geoduck within 0.5- to 5-acre parcels, but at full build-out geoducks will inhabit 30 acres of a 98-acre project area within the 348 acres leased by Taylor Shellfish Farms from Dungeness Farms, Inc., a duck hunting club.

The decision to lease the club’s tidelands to Taylor Shellfish Farms nearly two years ago “was a road to get a better bay,” Matt Heins, Dungeness River Management Team member representing estuary, tidelands, riverside property owners, said.

Tribal support

Historically Dungeness Bay was used for shellfish aquaculture by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, but because of frequent closures by the Washington State Department of Health in response to poor water quality conditions, it wasn’t an economically viable, Kelly Toy, shellfish management program manager for the tribe, said.

“We’re (Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe) comfortable with the project and supportive of Taylor out there,” Kurt Grinnell, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council member, said.

Officials with Taylor Shellfish Farms have worked with the tribe for years helping the tribe get back into the shellfish industry, Grinnell explained, and he admits the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe isn’t the only tribe Taylor officials have assisted.

Collaborative work among multiple county, nonprofit, tribal and state agencies, such as DOH, have focused on bettering the bay’s water quality and to identifying pollution sources contributing to its degraded state.

The area near the mouth of the Dungeness River and the proposed geoduck farm is home to a handful of multi-million dollar restoration projects including the county’s Pollution Identification and Correction plan, the setback of the 1960s-era U.S. Army Corps of Engineers levee and restoration of the former Three Crabs Restaurant site headed by the North Olympic Salmon Coalition.

Unique location

The increased focus on restoration intended to result in a healthier bay causes some residents to question whether the allowance of a commercial-scale shellfish aquaculture farm is consistent with restoration goals.

“This seems like it’s the right project, but the wrong location,” Richard Holden, a nearby resident to the proposed farm and president of Dungeness Beach Estates Homeowners Association, told Taylor Shellfish Farm officials Feb. 11.

Holden has no qualms with Taylor Shellfish Farms and admits they seem like a “well-run business,” but given the community’s environmental values and importance placed especially on salmon restoration, the location of the possible farm near the mouth of the Dungeness River isn’t appropriate for a commercial endeavor, he explained. Holden also pointed out the area is residential and thus a commercial operation could disturb the area’s atmosphere.

“I’m pretty pro-industry in most cases, but this just seems like a delicate system,” Holden said.

Given the proposed geoduck farm is sited offshore, east of the mouth of the Dungeness River and neighbors the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge boundary, there is public concern about impacts from the large-scare shellfish aquaculture to existing biota, such as eelgrass beds and birds, despite mitigation measures, like 16-foot buffers around eelgrass,

“This location is probably somewhat unique being close to a national wildlife refuge like this, but we work in a lot of sensitive areas,” Dewey said.

Meaders, senior marine biologist with Confluence Environmental Company hired by Taylor officials to conduct a geoduck aquaculture biological evaluation of the possible farm site, explained how geoduck aquaculture can result in “short-term impacts with short-term recovery periods, but studies don’t indicate long-term adverse impacts.”

“Overwhelming, studies have reported no significant impacts and even some positive impacts to birds and other marine species from the gear because it can create an additional food source and habitat,” Meaders said. “There is potential for entanglement but it’s rare.”

Regardless of the biological evaluation completed by staff with Confluence Environmental Company, Bob Lynette, a Sequim resident and Olympic Climate Action member, questioned the possibility of having a Environmental Impact Statement done – something Dewey said may be an option.

Because geoduck can take up to seven years to reach harvestable size, the equipment used is in place for multiple years, but only visible periodically because of tides and offshore site.

The first two to three years after planting plastic PVC tubes with net caps held on by rubber bands or flexible mesh tubes are placed about every square foot and blanket netting protects the juvenile geoduck from predation. Given the extensive and multi-year use of such equipment and storm exposure of Dungeness Bay, residents questioned an increase potential for pollution, but Dewey assured that “good farm maintenance” helps to control possible pollution.

No permit yet

According to Clallam County Planning manager Kevin LoPiccolo, the county has yet to receive an official permit application from Taylor Shellfish Farms, but Clallam County Department of Community Development Director Mary Ellen Winborn confirmed the farm will require a conditional use permit.

Taylor officials hope to submit a formal application to the county within the next month or two, but even after the application is submitted the permitting process can take months to years, Dewey explained.

“There is huge opportunity here for areas that want to embrace it (shellfish aquaculture),” Dewey said. “Our biggest obstacles to keeping this industry going are getting the permits and keeping the water clean enough.”

Reach Alana Linderoth at alinderoth@sequimgazette.com.