Peninsula Daily News
PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County commissioners will consider approval today of a letter to the state Department of Ecology that reluctantly agrees to permitting net pen aquaculture under conditional use permits.
The three commissioners will discuss, and possibly approve, the letter proposed by county staff during today’s 1:30 p.m. county manager briefing session in commissioners’ chambers at the Jefferson County Courthouse, 1820 Jefferson St., Port Townsend.
The regular meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the commissioners’ chamber.
Fish farming is the last sticking point in state approval of the county’s update of its shoreline master program.
“This is really the one outstanding issue,” said Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley on Friday.
“Ecology had asked that the county give notice of our intended path toward completing the shoreline master program by Oct. 1.”
Jefferson County submitted its proposed updated shoreline management program — the SMP — to Ecology in November 2010.
Ecology approved most of it in February 2011 except for a proposed ban of all fin-fish aquaculture, which raises fish such as Atlantic salmon in pens.
Ecology ruled that the county did not have the authority to forbid net pens.
The proposed letter that commissioners will consider today says that although they disagree with Ecology’s interpretation, they have “made the difficult choice” of choosing one of the options Ecology presented to them in July.
The option provides for a conditional use permit.
“None of the three options . . . are desirable to us,” the draft letter says before adding that commissioners chose an option to avoid more delay in completing the update and to keep local control of it.
Under a conditional use permit system, the county commissioners would adopt a code pertaining to net pen aquaculture, and then each net pen fishing application would go before a hearing examiner and be subject to a public hearing before the examiner made a decision based on the code.
Under a conditional use permit system, each net pen fishing application would go before a hearing examiner and be subject to a public hearing before the examiner made a decision.
“We are in the process of developing conditional use permit standards,” Morley said.
Parasites, pollutants
A key issue the potential spread of parasites and pollutants, Morley said.
The fear is that parasites and pollutants from farms could affect wild fish.
Carl Smith, county community development director, said some of the criteria likely to be included in a draft list for a conditional use permit are:
— ■ A fish farm could not be closer than 1,500 feet from shore.
— ■ A fish farm would be prohibited in areas where the mean current velocity is less than 0.1 knot.
“Some current is important to disperse feed or other pollutants,” Smith said.
— ■ Feed would have to be in pellet, not liquid, form
Wet feed “contributes to undigested feed reaching the bottom,” Smith said.
— ■ Only chemicals approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration would be allowed.
— ■ Fish farms would have to be a minimum distance from the mouth of any body of fresh water, such as rivers or creeks, where wild fish spawn.
The distance would be determined on a case-by-case basis, Smith said.
— ■ The proposed fish farm would have to be shown not to impede existing vessel traffic, and would have to be a minimum distance from any recreational shellfish beaches as well as from docks and marinas.
“We want to avoid conflicts with other uses,” Smith said.