PORT TOWNSEND — A public hearing on changes to the Jefferson County shoreline management plan — including regulations for fish pens — is planned Monday night.
The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the Jefferson County Superior Court courtroom at the county courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St.
County officials began discussing the revision of the Shoreline Management Plan in late 2009 and submitted a draft plan in March 2010 that forbade the use of net pens, the process of farming fish while they are held in a contained area.
After the county submitted a draft with the net pen prohibition, the state Department of Ecology said that the county could not forbid net pens but could regulate them.
Prior to submitting the final revision of the proposed shoreline plan the Jefferson County commissioners are taking public comment.
The proposed revision limits “experimental” techniques —defined as “growing methods or harvesting techniques that have not previously been used in the state of Washington and that differ significantly from current practice” — and prohibits any process “that uses or releases herbicides pesticides, antibiotics fertilizers, pharmaceuticals or non-indigenous species.”
Under the proposal, net pen systems that met specifications would be allowed in isolated areas in Cape George, Glen Cove, Mats Mats Bay and Port Ludlow Bay.
The public comment period extends to July 22, and public comments will be considered before the board submits the next draft of the plan.
Written comments can be sent to SMP Comments, P.O. Box 1220, Port Townsend WA 98368 or emailed to jeffbocc@co.
jefferson.us.
Information about the revisions to the shoreline management plan can be found at http://tinyurl.com/3vmrbro.
