DraytonHarbor Shellfish Restoration
Published on Thu, Jan 4, 2007 by eoff Menzies The Drayton HarborShellfish Protection District Citizens Advisory Committee,which began its work to help clean up Drayton Harbor in1995, now has another year of success under its belt. Withhundreds of hours of volunteer time and funding providedby Whatcom County, the City of Blaine, the Marine ResourcesCommittee and the Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF),we hosted another successful oyster feed and open houselast June at the Blaine Marina. Several hundred citizens attended and dined on yearlingoysters grown and donated by the Community Oyster Farm.Over 100 people took educational boat tours of the oysterbeds, which were given aboard the Plover and the Beast. Last spring and summer, PSRF provided a series of Draytontours for more than 40 watershed residents. Participantseach received a dozen oysters and pledged to take specificactions to help improve water quality in the harbor. We also teamed up with Cascadia Consulting Services andmany volunteers to conduct a survey of watershed residents.Seventy-one percent of residents felt it was very importantto keep the harbor safe for shellfish harvesting. That’s good news. But most respondents pointed tothe sewage treatment plant as the biggest threat to waterquality. Actually, the city has made big improvements tominimize impacts from the plant. Our key areas of focusnow are septic system maintenance and reducing livestockwaste from small farms.The Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s Community OysterFarm project is plugging along as well. With our wet-weathersampling program we were able to convince the state departmentof health to adjust the harvest closure up from ? inchof rainfall in 24 hours to ? inch of rainfall. This will reduce the number of temporary rainfall-inducedharvest closures, which is critical for a viable commercialoyster farm. Since last January, we have had 13, temporaryharvest closures prompted by rainfall and associated runoff. Drayton Harbor is considered unsafe for harvest for almost20% of the prime harvest season. This is why we are focusingon efforts to reduce bacterial runoff from the upper watershedduring the wet season. The Farmers of the Tideflats planted 50,000 single oystersthis past summer and continue to provide yearling oystersto local seafood retailers, restaurants and our dedicatedoyster lovers, who buy directly from us on the dock inBlaine. Contact me if you want to be on our email list:geoffmenzies@comcast.netWe are just now launching a pilot study in parts of theCalifornia Creek drainage to help identify whether bacterialwaste is coming from humans, horses, or cows. Findingswill be used to steer pollution control projects. This study is being financed by Whatcom County, Trilliumand Community Oyster Farm sales. We must continue to nurturecommunity partnerships like this one that are essentialfor complete water quality and shellfish restoration inDrayton Harbor. Thanks for doing your part.Read More News
Drayton Harbor Shellfish Restoration
By
Geoff Menzies
The Drayton Harbor
Shellfish Protection District Citizens Advisory Committee,
which began its work to help clean up Drayton Harbor in
1995, now has another year of success under its belt. With
hundreds of hours of volunteer time and funding provided
by Whatcom County, the City of Blaine, the Marine Resources
Committee and the Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF),
we hosted another successful oyster feed and open house
last June at the Blaine Marina.
Several hundred citizens attended and dined on yearling
oysters grown and donated by the Community Oyster Farm.
Over 100 people took educational boat tours of the oyster
beds, which were given aboard the Plover and the Beast.
Last spring and summer, PSRF provided a series of Drayton
tours for more than 40 watershed residents. Participants
each received a dozen oysters and pledged to take specific
actions to help improve water quality in the harbor.
We also teamed up with Cascadia Consulting Services and
many volunteers to conduct a survey of watershed residents.
Seventy-one percent of residents felt it was very important
to keep the harbor safe for shellfish harvesting.
That’s good news. But most respondents pointed to
the sewage treatment plant as the biggest threat to water
quality. Actually, the city has made big improvements to
minimize impacts from the plant. Our key areas of focus
now are septic system maintenance and reducing livestock
waste from small farms.
The Puget Sound Restoration Fund’s Community Oyster
Farm project is plugging along as well. With our wet-weather
sampling program we were able to convince the state department
of health to adjust the harvest closure up from ? inch
of rainfall in 24 hours to ? inch of rainfall.
This will reduce the number of temporary rainfall-induced
harvest closures, which is critical for a viable commercial
oyster farm. Since last January, we have had 13, temporary
harvest closures prompted by rainfall and associated runoff.
Drayton Harbor is considered unsafe for harvest for almost
20% of the prime harvest season. This is why we are focusing
on efforts to reduce bacterial runoff from the upper watershed
during the wet season.
The Farmers of the Tideflats planted 50,000 single oysters
this past summer and continue to provide yearling oysters
to local seafood retailers, restaurants and our dedicated
oyster lovers, who buy directly from us on the dock in
Blaine. Contact me if you want to be on our email list: geoffmenzies@comcast.net
We are just now launching a pilot study in parts of the
California Creek drainage to help identify whether bacterial
waste is coming from humans, horses, or cows. Findings
will be used to steer pollution control projects.
This study is being financed by Whatcom County, Trillium
and Community Oyster Farm sales. We must continue to nurture
community partnerships like this one that are essential
for complete water quality and shellfish restoration in
Drayton Harbor. Thanks for doing your part.