GOOEY DUCK....that huge clam that is one the Northwest's unique products. Yes it is a major product similar to our apples and cherries and salmon. Geoduck are harvested much like timber and alot less like salmon.

In 1970 the State of Washington started the commercial geoduck industry. In 2003 the estimated biomass of these tasty mollusks is some 680 million pounds. One quarter of that total or about 170 million pounds is set aside for commercial harvest. Of that available total the Department of Natural Resources allows 4 million pounds per year to be collected and sold.

In 1995 the Rafeedie Decision was handed down in federal court giving the treaty tribes 50% of all shellfish including geoduck. That means the tribes get 2 million pounds of geoduck to harvest each year. The non-treaty harvest is regulated within 6 zones of Puget Sound. The DNR issues quotas which amount to about 60,000lbs per quota. The State holds auctions similar to timber auctions and the high bidder wins the right to harvest the quota. Recently a company called Evergreen, a geoduck processor and seller, won the right to 4 quotas at an agreed bid of $5.10 per pound. That translates to 240,000lbs of geoduck and $1,224,000.00. The state collects that money and also monitors within strict rules the harvest itself.

Geoduck are harvested by divers who carry a high pressure hose which they use to blast away the bottom exposing the big clams. The geoduck are pulled out of the hole where they settle for life. Geoduck do not and cannot burrow into the sand like the rest of the clams. They work their way into the sand at a very early age and stay put until captured or until they die.

The tribes , as with salmon harvesting and crab harvesting, are self regulated and the WDFW and DNR have no say in what they do. The disturbing part to me is that the tribes do not pay one cent to harvest their 2 million pounds of geoduck. The non-treaty salmon commercial fisherman atleast is only out the $600 license and cost of doing business while the geoduck harvester pays anywhere from $1.50 to $6.00 PER POUND to the state. The tribes get there $10,000,000.00 worth of Geoduck for FREE. I would say this is anything but those famous words that justify such inequity: "IN KIND".

Recent cases of poaching and wastage (see Tacoma News Tribune archives for tons of stories) have been pinned on the tribes on top of their unbelieveable advantages in this fishery. The big problem is called high-grading. The major market for these geoduck is China. The market demands only the top grade to get top price. The lesser grades are often discarded over board or more than likely "high-graded" underwater away from all scrutiny. The big problem here besides typical arrogance and taking their good fortune for granted is that geoduck cannot burrow back into the sand. They sit on the bottom and die. The high grading and poaching have been on a huge scale causing some to wonder whether this resource , as many others, is threatened with extinction. Leigh Espy of the DNR told me today that she does not see a supply problem and she said if there is a study claiming so that it is wrong. Nevertheless, this particular advantage for the treaty tribes is worth millions to the tribes and absolutely nothing to the state.

I am working to discover which tribes do the harvesting and where the money trail leads. While in Kingston this past weekend I watched perhaps 15 -20 commercial tribal geoduck boats securing moorage for an opener going on this week from Tuesday through Friday. This is not a racial issue so do not try to suck it into one. This is a natural resources issue and an equality issue. It is an interesting story that needs to be fully exposed.