PCSGA Tidings

Twice a year, shell­fish farm­ers con­duct beach cleanups near their farms, col­lect­ing tons of debris, the vast major­ity of which is not related to shell­fish farming.

One of those efforts, chron­i­cled in an arti­cle (pdf) pub­lished in The Olympian news­pa­per, recov­ered five dump truck loads of debris — 85% per­cent of which had noth­ing to do with shell­fish farm­ing. Most of the debris recov­ered by the 80 vol­un­teers from 14 South Sound shell­fish com­pa­nies was, as the reporter noted, “junk” dis­carded by peo­ple who live, work, or recre­ate on the beaches.

That debris included chunks of Sty­ro­foam that had bro­ken loose from home­own­ers’ docks and floats, 58 tires, a tri­cy­cle and a 19-inch color television.

Fees to dis­pose of the debris are raised by the annual SLURP shell­fish fes­ti­val, spon­sored by the Pacific Coast Shell­fish Grow­ers Association.

If you see debris on Wash­ing­ton beaches or in the water, please report it to: Wash­ing­ton Shell­fish Aqua­cul­ture Debris Hot­line (800) 964‑6532

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