State denies oyster growers’ request to use pesticide; growers react

From the Capital Press

State regulators on Monday tentatively denied a request by Willapa Bay oyster growers to use a pesticide to control shrimp that burrow in oyster and clam beds and make it hard for the shellfish to grow.

In denying a permit, the Department of Ecology said that new scientific research and data show the pesticide imidacloprid would have too great an impact on other marine organisms, wildlife and the environment. Read the rest of the story here.

And the growers’ reaction:

The denial prevents 12 growers from applying the only effective means of removing a pest that plows up shellfish beds and causes oysters to sink and suffocate.

The growers charged Ecology with being driven by public hostility to spraying, rather than science. Ecology maintained it was guided by the potential harm to other creatures. Read the rest of the story here.