Lease for Taylor Shellfish delayed; new lands official seeks public input

Taylor Shellfish Co. won't receive a lease to harvest geoducks on state tidelands until the new public-lands commissioner has public input on the issue, the Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday.

Taylor Shellfish, based in Shelton, Mason County, was found last year to be growing shellfish on state tidelands without permission in Totten Inlet near Olympia. The company has said the trespass was unintentional and agreed to pay more than $800,000 to cover back rent, scientific research, among other things.

But that settlement with former Public Lands Commissioner Doug Sutherland depended on Taylor Shellfish getting a five-year lease from the state to harvest oysters and geoducks from the trespass site. Sutherland signed the agreement just before he left office last month, leaving the final lease decision to the next commissioner.

Newly elected Commissioner Peter Goldmark said Thursday he wants to settle the trespass issue with the shellfish company apart from any lease agreement.

"I believe that public input should be an important component of our decisions at DNR," Goldmark said in a statement. "When a state agency asks for the public's input when the issue is already decided, it is a violation of the public's trust."

Taylor Shellfish plans to meet with the new commissioner on Monday. The company is open to hearing what the state proposes, but it stands by the original settlement as a viable solution, said Spokesman Bill Dewey.