Drakes Bay Oyster Company and the National Park Service just do not agree: the company says it removed all cultivated shellfish from Drakes Estero by the Dec. 31 deadline, the park says it did not.
During surveys conducted this month, Point Reyes National Seashore staff claim they found oysters under cultivation—which were slated for removal in a settlement agreement reached in October—though they said they will not have an estimate of how many until next week.
“I think, obviously, the majority of shellfish had been removed,” said seashore spokesperson Melanie Gunn.
The Lunnys did an immense amount of work in the last few months, she said. But, she added, “The facts are that they agreed to remove all the shellfish under cultivation. There were shellfish under cultivation in the estero.”
Former farm owner Kevin Lunny disputes that claim. “For the park to say we didn’t do our part is very hurtful, because we killed ourselves to get that done,” he said.
It was hasty and somewhat disorganized work near the end because they were more oysters to remove than Mr. Lunny realized—part of the complicated nature of running a farm that is entirely underwater, he said. About five million oysters were removed in the past few months to meet their obligation to the seashore.
Mr. Lunny believes the park found oysters that were not under active cultivation. And if his team did miss anything, it must have been a paltry amount, he said. “Our agreement says remove cultured oysters, so oysters under cultivation. We took that seriously. We got them all out. So if we missed some… out of millions and millions of oysters out there, I would call that substantial completion. I would call that pretty damn good.”
A picture that appeared in an article in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat last week showed French cultivation tubes with oysters, hanging off a rack. But Mr. Lunny pointed out that the tubes are covered in tunicate, which only grows underwater, indicating that the rack must have broken off and fallen to the bottom some time ago.
(He also criticized park staff for talking with reporters and taking a photographer onto the estero at a time when they were not answering his and his lawyers his inquiries about the claim that he didn’t remove all the required shellfish. Ms. Gunn said in an email that “the legal teams have been in touch with each other this week, and will be exchanging information related to site conditions in the estero.”)
The park is removing the shellfish it finds, Ms. Gunn said, in light of a harvest prohibition issued to park visitors because shellfish are no longer tested by the state health department. (People can still collect native clams.)
“We want to remove the opportunity for public health hazards,” she said, as well as move forward with efforts to eliminate the oyster farm’s footprint.
In another swift move, the park this week began tearing down the onshore structures, including the decades-old oyster shack. The park, Ms. Gunn explained, wants to clear the estero and the surrounding land as soon as possible.
The residential spaces will remain until the workers living there relocate, likely by the end of March. A park contractor hired to find new homes for the workers is meeting this week with the workers, Ms. Gunn said, who will have representatives from Legal Aid of Marin with them.
Last summer, the Point Reyes Seashore Ranchers Association sent a letter to the park asking it to consider using the shack for retail sales of other products made by ranchers in the seashore. (The letter spurred resignations from some members who criticized the association’s communication style.)
But Ms. Gunn said the park decided not consider the request because the shack is in a flood zone.
The seashore said it received permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Regional Water Quality Control Board, along with a negative determination of impacts from the California Coastal Commission, to remove all the onshore structures. The park is still working on gaining approval from federal and state agencies to remove the racks and marine debris.