PORT TOWNSEND — Public officials hope they will soon be able to write “fin” — or “the end” — on the five-year process to update Jefferson County’s Shoreline Master Program.
The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners is expected to issue a new draft of the master program that addresses allowing but regulating fin fish farming, i.e., salmon farming or net-pen farming.
A legal notice would be published Wednesday, June 15, opening a 30-day window for public comments and requiring a public hearing, tentatively set for July 11 in the county Superior Court room.
The board discussed Monday various changes to the proposed document — which must ultimately be approved by the state Department of Ecology.
The commissioners thought their work was done when they approved the document in 2009, but in February, Ecology notified the county that it had approved the shoreline master plan on the condition that the county reverse its ban on fin fish farming, a prohibition that had been on the county books for decades.
The state agency said the county didn’t have sufficient scientific support for banning the practice in which fish are raised in pens.
“Ecology said the county didn’t do a thorough job to justify the prohibition,” said Al Scalf, county director of community development.
The county relied on decades-old documents when making its decision in 2009.
But in order to meet a December 2011 deadline to have an approved shoreline master plan, the commissioners decided to lift the ban but limit the practice to nine designated areas.
These areas — called Aquatic Shoreline Environment Designation Locations — are at the marinas at Pleasant Harbor in Brinnon, Bridgehaven in Quilcene, Port Ludlow, Cape George and Port Hadlock; at the boat ramp in Port Hadlock adjacent to the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding; as well as Mystery Bay on Marrowstone Island, Mats Mats Quarry and the Port Townsend Paper Corp. mill.
“After downloading 90 documents, as well as the citizenry coming in with data, there’s clearly enough evidence for an outright ban,” Scalf said.
In order to clear legal hurdles, however, the county has to provide that evidence before Ecology will sign off on the shoreline master plan.
“We’re saying, ‘Show us your homework so we can defend it legally,’” said Jeffree Stewart, environmental planner for Ecology’s Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program.
Ecology must follow state law that says water-dependent commercial uses are preferred and that the county can’t simply have a blanket ban on fin fish farming but that limiting pens to certain areas is appropriate.
County Commissioner Phil Johnson asked what would happen if the county didn’t accommodate Ecology.
Stewart said, “DOE can write the SMP for you, but we don’t want to do that, and I know you don’t either.
In Monday’s workshop to refine the language regarding net pens as well as other issues, the commissioners made minor changes to the proposed document.
They anticipate plenty of public comment in writing and at the public hearing regarding the issue, which has touched off debate for years in the Pacific Northwest as well as around the world.
One concern is that non-native salmon could escape their pens and propagate enough to threaten wild fish.
Another worry is that diseases and parasites that thrive in populous net pens would not only easily kill the farmed fish, but also spread to the wild salmon population.
The county’s Community Development Department has numerous scientific studies, historic documents and other articles on the Jefferson County website, www.co.jefferson.wa.us.
The county’s first shoreline management program was put into effect in 1989.
It has not been updated since, though minor revisions were adopted in 1993, 1996 and 1998.
Work on the new plan began in 2006.
________
Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.
