The mooring buoys are there but is there a boat mooring there?That question is at the heart of an issue threatening the livelihood of a shellfish harvester on Mystery Bay.
Mystery Bay is a beautiful spot located across from Marrowstone Island in Jefferson County. It is a place where boaters who are heading to the San Juans often make a final stop on their way to the islands.
It is also home to a shellfish harvester that has been in business for about 100 years. This business employs between 50-100 people, and this is their busiest time of year. However, the state Department of Health is under pressure to close the bay to shellfish harvesting because of pressure from the Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA says there are too many boats mooring in the bay which presents a health danger because of the discharge from the boats.
But that might not be the case. The issue appears to be that the number of mooring buoys in Mystery Bay indicates a higher level of boat activity than there actually is. In fact, some of the mooring buoys are actually abandoned.
One solution might be that if the abandoned mooring buoys are removed, the FDA will stop pressuring the state Department of Health to close the bay to shellfish harvesting, and the jobs can be saved.
That's why the Department of Health is hosting a public meeting in coordination with the Jefferson County Department of Community Development, Washington's Department of Natural Resources, State Parks and the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association.
Rep. Kevin Van De Wege is attending the June 15 meeting because he supports having DNR create a more simplified, streamlined process for permitting of buoys, as well as a solution for removal of the ones that are abandoned. The goal is to save jobs and also allow limited mooring of boats in such a beautiful location.
