Hazards

Children cannot play or run freely because of dangerous fixtures. Windsurfers have testified at hearings that they have become injured on the pipes. Picture to the right shows rebar partially submerged in the murky waters.

Geoduck companies use rebar to hold down their nets. Left over rebar in three different locations from 3 different companies.

These nets block access to beach walkers, trap fish and birds. When covered by the water, they could become a hazard to swimmers. Currents in Puget Sound are strong enough to make a swimmer or child on a floating toy get misdirected into these areas. Wind surfers have testified at community meetings of getting caught in loose rope that was used to anchor the nets. We think that these farms should be located away from recreational areas and homes.

Geoduck companies use rubberbands to secure the small nets on top of the PVC pipes as pictured to the right. To the left is a picture of an otter with one of them around it's waist that a resident of Case inlet took. It was found on their lawn writhing around trying to work it off.

Young Eagle caught in a net in the South Puget Sound in a geoduck farm. Aquaculture companies have made agreements to remove these nets during eagle fledgling periods.

These are 2 pictures taken by a Henderson Bay resident of an eagle caught in a large broadcast net that the aquaculture companies use. The man who took these pictures said the tide was rising and started to cover the eagle's head when he decided to go out and try to free it. Eagles have very strong talons so you can imagine the danger he put himself in.