Now, can farm hang on to oyster harvesting? - Breaking News Highlight Story - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

“Shellfish have been such an important part of this place for so long, and here it was, slipping through our fingers,” recalled Betsy Peabody, executive director of the restoration fund."

Cow drinking from stream in Whatcom County

Recent studies released by the Department of Ecology report poor water quality in Drayton Harbor, Birch Bay and other local shellfish harvesting areas. If we are not careful, Whatcom County may be in danger of losing one of it's most precious natural resources, it's shellfish beds. Frequent shellfish harvesting closures demonstrate the importance of protecting our bays and inlets from pollution sources like stormwater runoff, animal waste and failing septic tanks.

Meanwhile, conservative county council members are in the process of weakening the OSS Septic Ordinance to appease angry septic tank owners who do not want to pay for professional inspections or maintenance for their systems. 

In the Whereas section, the sponsors, Crawford and Brenner claim that failing septic tanks are not part of the pollution problem. 

Perhaps we can learn something from our south sound neighbors who pulled together to form a community organization to restore shellfish harvesting in Henderson Inlet. From the Olympian:

"Water quality has improved enough in lower Henderson Inlet north of Lacey to allow unfettered harvesting of shellfish on 240 acres of tidelands that had been restricted since 2001, the state Department of Health announced Wednesday."

Now, can farm hang on to oyster harvesting? - Breaking News Highlight Story - The Olympian - Olympia, Washington

Link to Puget Sound Restoration Fund, which has restored 575 acres in Drayton Harbor to conditional  shellfish harvest.


Henderson Inlet from Betsy Peabody on Vimeo.