Is intertidal shellfish aquaculture legal in Puget Sound?
A. No, technically most methods that we see today, including geoduck aquaculture, are not legal. But because of the industry’s long economic and cultural history, decades without regulations, corruption, feeble administration and misinterpretation of the Shoreline Management Act (SMA), plus very little enforcement efforts, it has been allowed to perpetuate largely unchecked. The SMA is state law. The over-arching policy of the SMA is to preserve the physical and aesthetic qualities of natural shorelines. The SMA gives priority to developments related to residential and recreational uses over aquaculture as a preferred use. Aquaculture may only be considered a preferred use if it does not interfere with residential and recreational uses, and if it does not interfere with the natural functions of the ecosystem. The Shoreline Management Act also states: “Alterations of the natural conditions of the shorelines of the state, in those limited instances when authorized, shall be given priorit
