Friends of Burley Lagoon

Friends of Burley Lagoon Appeals to the Shorelines Hearings Board
An appeal of the Pierce County Hearing Examiner’s November 2024 decision approving Taylor Shellfish’s geoduck installation in the Burley Lagoon estuary has been filed. Friends of Burley Lagoon and Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat filed their Petition for Review with the state Shorelines Hearings Board on February 5, 2025.

The Pierce County Hearing Examiner had granted permits for a 25.5-acre industrial geoduck operation in Burley Lagoon. This would likely be the largest geoduck site in Puget Sound, threatening marine habitats in this estuary, and setting precedent for continued expansion throughout the region.

Even though a hearing in May 2023 before the Gig Harbor Land Use Advisory Commission (LUAC) resulted in the commissioners’ recommendation that Pierce County deny the Taylor Shellfish Burley Lagoon geoduck permits, the deputy Hearing Examiner chose to approve the project.

History: In the past small clams and oysters have been gently farmed in communion with the Burley Lagoon environment and surrounding neighborhood. However, a change in aquaculture management over the past decade has led to industrial practices and the extensive use of plastics, including predator exclusion netting that covers the natural feeding grounds of birds and marine life.

Janey Aiken, Friends of Burley Lagoon, says, “With $41.6 million dollars being spent restoring fish passage through Purdy Creek that flows into Burley Lagoon, it’s shocking the aquaculture industry would be allowed to use even more plastic gear and practices that further degrade the habitat of ESA-listed Chinook salmon and other species in Burley Lagoon.” Ms. Aiken continues, “This estuary supports multiple habitats, including salt marshes, wetlands, eelgrass beds, mudflats and more. They all provide critical habitat for marine species. Approval of the geoduck installation permits would intensify industrial aquaculture operations here and would further disrupt the lagoon, the wildlife and the surrounding community.”

Concerns persist about the geoduck monoculture’s impact on biodiversity since approximately 500,000 geoduck per acre could be planted in plastic sleeves, monopolizing phytoplankton, the basic food source of other naturally occurring aquatic species. In comparison, this is 62 times the recognized natural density of geoducks. Advocates, professionals, scientists, and concerned citizens have diligently presented arguments to Pierce County against the permit issuance.

The aquaculture industry argues that geoducks “clean the water”. However, growers say “clean” to mean filtering phytoplankton out of the water, but phytoplankton is actually the basic food source for other aquatic species as well as shellfish. Rather, in industrial aquaculture densities, excessive shellfish feces and pseudo-feces (expelling particles that can’t be used for food) can contribute to toxic conditions, and may carry bacteria that could be hazardous even to the mollusks that expelled them. In a 25.5-acre geoduck installation, the exponential number of geoduck planted would be like introducing roughly 1200 cows’ worth of biomass into this low-flushing estuary!

The broader implications of this decision extend beyond Burley Lagoon and impact aquatic species, recreational opportunities, and aesthetics throughout Puget Sound.

“We, community members, are standing up against a powerful industry,” Aiken added. “Decisions made today will impact future generations and the health of Puget Sound.”

We’re counting on funding to make this fight possible. Donations can be made through this website on our donation page:

Or checks may be sent to:
Friends of Burley Lagoon
PO Box 363
Burley, WA 98322-0363.
FOBL is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

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