Washington shellfish growers are aghast at the federal closure of a Point Reyes oyster farm which supplies 40 percent of the oysters consumed in California, describing the decision as a rebuke of economic growth and accepted environmental science.
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar yesterday announced the imminent expiration of the Drakes Bay Oyster Co's 40-year old lease in the Point Reyes National Seashore, citing a Congressional mandate to return the area to wilderness. But Salazar stopped short of ending agricultural activity along the shore: Fifteen cattle and dairy ranches will continue to operate.
"The people in California should be up in arms," Ian Jefferds, co-owner of Penn Cove Shellfish, says. "The people in Washington should be up in arms. If you can have someone uproot your business for their own political reasons, there's something rotten there."
Although the dispute dates back years, Jefferds says industry insiders were shocked by its resolution.
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