The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe vocalized support during a recent Dungeness River Management Team meeting, where local company Taylor Shellfish Farms discussed its proposal to develop a 30-acre geoduck farm in Dungeness Bay.
From The Sequim Gazette:
Historically Dungeness Bay was used for shellfish aquaculture by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, but because of frequent closures by the Washington State Department of Health in response to poor water quality conditions, it wasn’t an economically viable, Kelly Toy, shellfish management program manager for the tribe, said.
“We’re (Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe) comfortable with the project and supportive of Taylor out there,” Kurt Grinnell, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Council member, said.
Officials with Taylor Shellfish Farms have worked with the tribe for years helping the tribe get back into the shellfish industry, Grinnell explained, and he admits the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe isn’t the only tribe Taylor officials have assisted.
Collaborative work among multiple county, nonprofit, tribal and state agencies, such as DOH, have focused on bettering the bay’s water quality and to identifying pollution sources contributing to its degraded state.
