The fight over Pierce County’s largest geoduck farm is over. Here’s what’s next
.jpg "A view from above shows the northeast tidelands of Burley Lagoon in 2021.")
Taylor Shellfish Company has reached a settlement with nearby homeowners and environmental advocates that will allow a large proposed Pierce County geoduck farm to move forward, subject to several restrictions.
Signed by both parties on April 16 and filed April 18 with the state Shorelines Hearings Board, it marks an end to years of dispute between the company and local nonprofits including Friends of Burley Lagoon and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat. The groups raised concerns about the proposed 25.5-acre farm’s impact to marine habitat and light and noise disturbance to surrounding homes.
Per the settlement, Friends of Burley Lagoon filed a request that the state Shorelines Hearings Board dismiss their pending appeal of certain permits granted for the farm. As of April 26, the hearings board has yet to issue a final decision on all motions filed in the case, but on April 21 struck the scheduled date for the appeal hearing from the records, according to Janey Aiken, who signed the settlement on behalf of Friends of Burley Lagoon and the Coalition to Protect Puget Sound Habitat.
Through a lengthy process, Taylor Shellfish has obtained several of the necessary permits for work on the geoduck farm to begin, including a Shoreline Substantial Development Permit and a Shoreline Conditional Use Permit from the county. They still need approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to amend their existing permit to work in U.S. waters, according to the settlement. Pending that approval, the company hopes to begin planting this summer, according to Dewey.
“I think the best outcome is that the temperature’s been taken down,” Taylor Shellfish spokesperson Bill Dewey said April 25 about the mediation. “... We’re just looking forward to much better relationships there with our neighbors and with the Friends of Burley Lagoon, and going forward, collaboratively working on conservation efforts there in the lagoon.”
Bruce Morse with Friends of Burley Lagoon praised the mediation process, which he said took place in two Zoom sessions amounting to a day and a half.
“I think everyone on all sides worked very well together,” Morse told The News Tribune. “We compromised. In some cases, we stood firm ... and in other cases, we gave up things, and (in) other cases, we compromised together. So I thought it was a good process.”
Dewey said the group that worked on the settlement included multiple representatives from Taylor Shellfish, including one of the company owners, Bill Taylor. Morse said he and a few others from Friends of Burley Lagoon were part of the discussions, as well as attorneys for both parties and representatives from Pierce County and the state Department of Ecology.
Taylor Shellfish currently farms Manila clams and Pacific oysters on part of a 300-acre lease from Western Oyster Company, which began leasing the tidelands in 2012, as stated in county documents earlier in the geoduck farm permitting process. Taylor first proposed turning part of their farm into a geoduck farm in 2014, according to the county website.
There are about 200 acres of geoduck farms on privately-owned tidelands throughout Puget Sound, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. The News Tribune previously reported that Taylor Shellfish’s Burley Lagoon geoduck farm would be the largest geoduck farm in Pierce County if approved.
The settlement acknowledges that Burley Lagoon both includes critical habitat and has a long history of commercial aquaculture. It outlines a series of stipulations for farming operations and company relations with Burley Lagoon residents, including restrictions on where shellfish farming and operations can take place; a requirement that workers plant, harvest and conduct other “dive operations” between the hours of 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; and a prohibition of chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, processed feed or net pens — a type of floating cage for fish or shellfish — in the lagoon.
The settlement also requires that Taylor Shellfish give a designated Friends of Burley Lagoon representative the phone number and email of the crew chief; maintain their debris collection efforts and pick up marine-sourced litter and debris that locals collect; and provide a phone number to call when litter bags or piles are ready for pick-up. Taylor Shellfish also agreed to request that workers wear clothing or gear that identifies them with the company when traveling to and from the farm site.
The provisions for enforcement include the parties’ agreement that they won’t sue the other unless a good-faith effort has been made to resolve the issue through direct discussions or potentially a “mutually acceptable mediator.” If one party breaks the agreement, the other party is entitled to obtain a temporary restraining order or a court order regulating the other’s activities on top of any damages a court deems “just and proper.”
Friends of Burley Lagoon agreed not to “challenge any other approval, permission, or right required for Taylor’s proposed geoduck operation in Burley Lagoon as permitted and conditioned in the shoreline permits issued by Pierce County,” according to the settlement.
Taylor Shellfish and Friends of Burley Lagoon also agreed to contribute money toward the development of a proposal providing for the conservation of Burley Lagoon, and the formation of a body to oversee the protection of natural resources there. That “cooperative resource protection entity” could be a new organization, a program within an existing organization, a conservation district, or something else. The parties aim to have an initial report within six months and a proposal for that cooperative within nine, according to the settlement. Taylor Shellfish will contribute $15,000, and Friends of Burley Lagoon will contribute $3,000 toward this effort, the settlement says.
Morse said he’s excited about what the new cooperative could do and that such a body has been a “dream” of his for some time. A lot of organizations and government agencies conduct research or other activities in the lagoon, such as the Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Puget Sound Restoration Fund. He’d like to see a body potentially uniting industry, private groups and public agencies to protect the lagoon, he said. He’s started reaching out to different people and agencies to start imagining what this body might look like, and what it could do — from sponsoring research and education to creating a central database to track beach conditions.
The News Tribune also asked Dewey if he has an idea of who will be part of this new cooperative, and he said that’s yet to be determined.
The settlement makes provision for Taylor Shellfish to contribute an additional $15,000 to either obtain a conservation easement for or purchase portions of an island in the lagoon, sometimes called “Bird Island,” according to the settlement. Morse said the island is a “couple acres” big and provides habitat for different birds including gulls and geese. It’s owned by Western Oyster Company along with the rest of the farmland that Taylor Shellfish leases from them.
Taylor Shellfish’s contribution depends on the owner’s willingness to sell “and adequate funds to purchase the interest or easement.” If the cost is less than $15,000, the remainder of those funds will go toward the new cooperative, the settlement says.
Morse said he’s gotten a lot of positive feedback from residents about the settlement.
“I think in general, people are kind of tired and just want to get on with life,” Morse said. “And the fact that we can set up this cooperative and actually promote and encourage good stewardship of the lagoon — I think people are excited about that as well.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2025 at 11:57 AM.
