Clallam County Department of Community Development has published that the Jamestown S’Klallam have applied to restart their permit application for an aquaculture permit inside the Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge. This highly controversial application has drawn criticism from the Refuge manager, in a detailed response to the previous application. (See below) Critics of the application have stated that any non Tribal organization wishing to seek to establish this kind of operation within a refuge would run into serious opposition from conservation organizations, and likely Tribes as well, but due to this being put forward by the Tribe, criticism has been muted. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. With shorebird populations in decline, especially those using Protection Island and feeding underwater in this very location, it’s hard to understand how this will be allowed. Then there is the growing problems of ocean acidification and the European Green Crab invading not far to the west of this spot. Could the State perhaps offer a trade off of shoreline to protect the Refuge?
DCD have tentatively scheduled the Public Hearing before the Clallam County Hearing Examiner for this matter for Thursday November 21, 2019 at 1 p.m..
More can be found at
Also this web site has published the letter of concern from the Refuge Manager.
https://olyopen.com/2018/04/10/concerns-raised-over-dungeness-spit-oyster-farm-application/
As stated by the Department of Interior letter, “The shores and tidelands in this area provide some of the most important wildlife habitat and supports the highest density of waterfowl and shorebirds within the refuge….These shorelines also support one of the largest Brandt haul out sites in the state of Washington….Shorebird densities are highest within the action area and the adjacent lagoon on Graveyard Spit.”
“Human-caused wildlife disturbance and habitat loss are two of the most pervasive threats to shorebird and waterfowl use of the Salish Sea….very little information is available on entrapment resulting from aquaculture structures.”
The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe (JST) wants to proceed with the application after the Government to Government meeting with U.S. Fish & Wildlife (USFW). In a letter dated August 6, 2019
U.S.F.W rescinded their previous letter dated May 22, 2019 (See item B1.83 & B2.1 below for more information).
DCD will be providing notice and a SEPA threshold determination in the next couple of weeks.
We have tentatively scheduled the Public Hearing before the Clallam County Hearing Examiner for this matter for Thursday November 21, 2019 at 1 p.m..
Filed under: Aquaculture, Puget Sound | Tagged: Dungeness Bay, Puget Sound |
