PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County is one step closer to approving an updated shoreline management program after several tweaks were made to its fin-fish aquaculture policy.
But this may not be enough to earn the support of the county commissioner who has led the opposition to fish farming.
“I’m still very uncomfortable with net pens,” Phil Johnson said.
“It will be a rough decision for me [to vote for the update].”
“My feelings have become stronger as new information has come out” about diseases and pollution connected with fish farming, Johnson said.
The state Department of Ecology has said that counties lack the authority to ban the industry outright, which commissioners sought to do.
The county’s shoreline program update was sent to the state in November 2010.
Ecology approved most of it in February 2011, except for a proposed ban on fin-fish aquaculture, which raises non-native species, such as Atlantic salmon, in pens.
Since then, the commissioners have worked toward developing a conditional-use process that limits the location and scope of potential net-pen businesses.
On Monday, commissioners unanimously approved changes to their policy and instructed staff members to prepare an ordinance for the approval of the revised shoreline management program.
That could be finished in a few weeks, Associate Planner Michelle McConnell said.
Additions to the policy include the raising of the required fencing from 6 feet to 10 feet above the water’s surface and making the language more concise, McConnell said.
The changes will be incorporated into an ordinance for approval at the county level. After that, it will be submitted to Ecology for state approval.
McConnell said that in the meantime, the changes will be sent to Ecology informally so the agency can weigh in with support or objections prior to the preparation of the ordinance.
“They are aware of what we are doing,” McConnell said of Ecology officials.
Since counties are forbidden to prohibit net pens, the proposed shoreline management program update will include requirements for a stringent conditional-use permit for anyone who seeks to establish a fish-farming operation in Jefferson County waters.
There are currently no applications for net pens in Jefferson County.
Johnson said the conditional-use permit requirements may mean that none applies.
“There is a lot of money behind the net-pen industry, but a lot of people in Jefferson County don’t like net pens,” he said.
“That could discourage those who want to locate here.”
A previous draft of the policy contained 21 potential requirements for net pens, including requiring a genetic similarity between farmed and native fish, controlling the odor and regulating the lighting used in a fish-farming operation.
While strictly governing the process itself, the plan imposes geographic restrictions on where a fish farm could locate in Jefferson County waters.
There are four areas where net pens could be constructed in the Port Townsend area, while a 20-square-mile area northwest of Port Townsend and extending to the San Juan County nautical border also could house the facilities, according to the proposal.
A bill that would allow counties to ban fish farming was introduced in the state Legislature this year by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege — a Sequim Democrat who represents the 24th District, which includes Jefferson and Clallam counties — but it did not make it out of committee.
Johnson said his anti-fin-fish aquaculture efforts have raised local consciousness about the issue.
“Far more people are aware about what’s going on now than when the process started,” he said.
Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
