SEATTLE, Wash. — A federal judge’s ruling has left state shellfish growers like Taylor Shellfish Farms on Chuckanut Drive hanging in the balance.
The Seattle Times reports the judge threw out a federal permit for the state’s shellfish farms, saying the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t properly examine the industry’s environmental impact.
The ruling came in a federal lawsuit filed by industry critics, who claim plastic pollution from tubes and netting and the use of pesticides harm tidelands and the other species that live there.
Growers say they’re following “rigorous conditions” aimed at protecting the environment.
They hope the judge will allow them to keep operating while the plaintiffs are asking for a halt to new cultivation.
Washington produces the most farmed shellfish in the nation.