The Sacramento Bee reported on the continuing conflict over the Drake Bay Oyster Company seeking to extend its lease at Pt. Reyes. Point Reyes National Seashore covered by the Wilderness Act of 1964, which states that a federally protected wilderness as “retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation.” However, the oyster farm grows 500,000 pounds of non-native Pacific oysters in Pt. Reyes waters at Drakes Estero and uses motorboats to harvest them. In addition to the noise from the boats, native eel grass has been covered, seal pups may be disturbed and plastic tubes used to cultivate the oysters wash up on Pt. Reyes’ beaches.
The original lease was granted four years before the Wilderness Act passed . This means that the lease should not be renewed and Drakes Estero revert to the National Seashore. Unfortunately Senator Feinstein is supporting extending the lease. Read more at: Environmentalists fight Drakes Bay Oyster Co.’s bid to extend its National Park Service lease at Point Reyes National Seashore – California Watch – The Sacramento Bee.
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[…] Conflict Continues Over Oyster Co. Lease At Point Reyes […]
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By: Court Uphold Ending Drakes Bay Oyster Lease « Natural History Wanderings on February 4, 2013
at 11:19 PM
[…] Conflict Continues Over Oyster Co. Lease At Point Reyes […]
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By: Court Uphold Ending Drakes Bay Oyster Lease « Natural History Wanderings on February 4, 2013
at 11:19 PM
[…] Conflict Continues Over Oyster Co. Lease At Point Reyes (naturalhistorywanderings.com) […]
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By: Good News For Marine Wilderness: Bad News For Oyster Farm « Natural History Wanderings on August 26, 2012
at 6:28 AM
Curiously, Sen. Feinstein got a perfect score from the League of Conservation Voters, but I believe they ignored her wrongheaded position on this issue. I just read that an oyster farmer in Washington State is moving his operations to Hawaii because ocean acidification is already impacting his business. No idea why it would be more acidic in the PNW than in Hawaii….
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By: John Wall on July 3, 2012
at 1:04 PM