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The intent of the Aquaculture policies and regulations is to manage the culture and farming of fish, shellfish, or other aquatic plants and animals. Aquaculture is a water-dependent use. Local government shall consider local ecological conditions and provide limits and conditions to assure appropriate compatible types of aquaculture for the local conditions as necessary to assure no net loss of ecological functions. When properly managed, aquaculture can result in a long-term over short-term benefit and can protect the resources and ecology of the shoreline.

A. Applicability. This Section applies to the culture or farming of fish, shellfish, or other aquatic plants and animals. This Section does not apply to the harvest of wildstock geoduck associated with state managed wildstock geoduck fishery.

B. Policies.

1. Consider both the potential beneficial impacts and the potential adverse impacts that aquaculture might have on the physical environment, other existing and approved land and water uses, and on the aesthetic qualities of a project area.

2. Give preference to projects that involve minimal or no supplemental food sources, pesticides, herbicides, or antibiotic applications.

3. Design, locate, and operate aquaculture activities in a manner that supports long-term beneficial use of the shoreline and protects and maintains shoreline ecological functions and processes. Aquaculture should not be permitted where it would result in a net loss of shoreline ecological functions; adversely affect the quality or extent of habitat for Federal and State listed species and species of local importance including native eelgrass, kelp, and other macroalgae; adversely impact other habitat conservation areas or connectivity between such areas; or significantly interfere with navigation or other water-dependent uses.

4. Individual aquaculture uses and developments should be separated from submerged aquatic vegetation of adjoining parcels by a sufficient distance when project specific review demonstrates it is necessary to ensure that significant adverse cumulative effects do not occur.

5. Design and locate aquaculture facilities so as not to spread disease to native aquatic life, establish new non-native species which cause significant ecological impacts, nor significantly impact the aesthetic qualities of the shoreline.

6. Monitor and identify aquaculture project environmental impacts. Monitoring protocols should be consistent with the recommendations of local, State, and Federal agencies with expertise. The results of monitoring shall be used to identify necessary changes to project-specific aquaculture operations and to aquaculture permitting requirements.

7. Give flexibility to aquaculture practices; provided, that the overarching concern shall be avoidance or minimization of negative impacts as set forth in this Title. The County shall establish monitoring procedures to ensure that aquaculture operations are in compliance with permit conditions.

8. Limit the scale and period of operation of aquaculture practices that are unproven or that involve impacts of an indeterminate nature.

9. The County shall require an analysis of the cumulative impacts of aquaculture activities for more complex projects, including but not limited to farms on shorelines of statewide significance; multi-species farms; farms proposed within enclosed waters; farms proposed in locations where similar farms exist or are proposed; or farms that would be the first of their kind in the area.

C. Regulations – General.

1. Applications for aquaculture shall be subject to the Aquaculture Application Requirements of Chapter 18S.70 PCC – Appendix C.

2. Aquaculture operations are subject to all applicable State approved management guidelines. Where such guidelines are less restrictive than the County requirements, the County's requirements shall apply.

3. The proposed project location shall be suitable for aquaculture with little or no modification to the shoreline environment. Mechanized grading shall not be permitted.

4. Aquaculture activity boundaries shall be illustrated on a site plan that includes a depiction of the real property boundaries consistent with the legal description of the property. Aquaculture activity boundaries and property corners shall be marked. At its discretion, the County may require traditional survey methods or allow GPS methodology.

5. Aquaculture activity area boundaries shall be identified through the life of the aquaculture operation. Markers are to be visible when the tidelands are exposed. Projects that utilize submerged structures and/or tubes, stakes, racks, or bags shall also provide floating markers to identify the boundary at higher tides. All markers shall provide the applicant's contact information and a description of aquaculture activities and any associated navigation hazards. Markers in navigable waters shall conform to any applicable U.S. Coast Guard requirements. Floating markers may be removed when the submerged structures and equipment are removed.

6. Shellfish aquaculture projects located below the Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM) shall not involve the use of supplemental feed, pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics, vaccines, growth stimulants, antifouling agents, or other chemicals waterward of the OHWM in marine waters. When such products are used for finfish aquaculture, usage data shall be maintained by the applicant/operator and shall be provided to the County upon request.

7. Finfish aquaculture that uses or releases herbicides, pesticides, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, non-indigenous species, parasites, viruses, genetically modified organisms, feed, or other materials known to be harmful into surrounding waters shall not be allowed unless significant impacts to surrounding habitat and conflicts with adjacent uses are effectively mitigated.

8. Aquaculture activities shall not substantially and materially conflict with areas devoted to legally established water-dependent uses of the aquatic environment. Such uses include but are not limited to navigation, moorage, recreation, sport or commercial fishing, underwater utilities, and scientific research.

9. The operator of any aquaculture activity shall provide contact information to abutting waterfront property owners and shall, in a timely manner, respond to and rectify any complaint relating to materials, equipment, or operation activities as necessary to comply with permit conditions.

10. Predator control shall not involve deliberate killing or harassment of birds, non-invasive invertebrates, or mammals. Control of invasive species such as the oyster drill snail is acceptable. Approved controls include but are not limited to plastic tubes or netting. Predator control equipment shall be removed as defined within the approved schedule.

11. Rebar shall be bent so exposed ends are no longer upright.

12. The duration and frequency of aquaculture monitoring shall be unique to each farm. A monitoring plan shall be submitted consistent with Chapter 18S.70 PCC – Appendix C, Aquaculture Application Requirements. A monitoring schedule shall be established as a condition of each permit approval. At a minimum, monitoring shall occur prior to bed preparation and prior to subsequent cycles of planting and harvest. More frequent monitoring may be required based on the complexity or intensity of the proposal.

13. Introduction of a new shellfish species, changing the shellfish species cultivated, expansion of the physical area cultivated or relocation of the aquaculture operation shall require notification to the County. The County shall review the proposal consistent with permit revision criteria in PCC 18S.60.080 B. Proposals that do not meet revision criteria shall require a new permit and compliance with this SMP.

14. Introduction of a new finfish species, changing the finfish species cultivated, expansion of the physical area cultivated or relocation of the finfish aquaculture operation is considered a new use/development, and shall require a new permit and compliance with this SMP.

15. Aquaculture activities allowed pursuant to an approved Shoreline Conditional Use Permit shall not be subject to review of a new Shoreline Conditional Use Permit for subsequent cycles of planting and harvest. Activities shall be subject to reviews in accordance with an approved monitoring plan, and the permit is subject to PCC 18S.10.070 I. should reviews find that aquaculture activities are being exercised contrary to approval conditions.

16. Olympia Oyster propagation and other activities supporting the enhancement and/or recovery of native shellfish, finfish and aquatic plant species are allowed within the Nisqually Reach Aquatic Reserve.

17. Aquaculture applications shall be reviewed for consistency with the mitigation sequence in PCC 18S.30.030 C.1. Aquaculture proposals that will result in significant adverse environmental impacts that cannot be mitigated shall be prohibited.

D. Regulations – Impact Avoidance.

1. Proposals shall minimize adverse impacts from noise, light, and glare on nearby properties to the extent feasible.

2. To the degree practicable, materials and colors that blend into their surroundings shall be utilized.

3. Permanent lighting shall not be permitted except as required for navigation.

4. Tools shall be put away when the aquaculture activity area is not being actively worked.

5. All equipment and structures and/or tubes, nets, and bands shall be marked to identify ownership, and shall be removed as defined by a County approved schedule.

6. Proposals shall demonstrate methods to be used to secure tubes, nets, bands and other equipment and structures so that they will not escape from the site during the life of the operation.

7. Operators shall regularly patrol for aquaculture-related materials and debris. The distance to be patrolled will be based on site attributes, such as drift cell (a particular reach of marine shore in which littoral drift may occur without significant interruption and which contains any natural sources of such drift and also accretion shore forms created by such drift) patterns and degree of enclosure, adjacent land use patterns, and ability to legally access adjacent properties.

E. Regulations – Harvest and Processing.

1. Commercial aquaculture operators have a right to harvest from a farm once planted. Harvesting during low tides may occur at night or on weekends only if low tide harvesting is necessary.

2. Harvest activities shall be conducted in a manner that minimizes turbidity and the risk of impacts to aquatic vegetation and the intertidal bed. Where water pumps are used, they should be placed on floating rafts or boats which shall not come in direct contact with the substrate. Pump intakes shall be screened to minimize the capture of marine organisms. Harvest activities within fine-grained beaches that are susceptible to sediment transport may be required to utilize sediment containment methods, such as sediment control fencing, hose line, or cloth tubes.

3. Processing of aquaculture products, except for the sorting or culling of the cultured organism and the washing or removal of surface materials or organisms after harvest, should not occur in or over the water.

4. Processing and processing facilities should be located on land and shall be subject to PCC 18S.40.050, Commercial, Civic and Industrial, and Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department – Environmental Health Division Regulations, and applicable County Codes, in addition to the policies and regulations in this Section.

5. No garbage, waste, or debris shall be allowed to accumulate at the site of any aquaculture operation.

6. If significant mortality of species under cultivation occurs, the aquaculture operator shall immediately report the event to the State and local Health Departments, and then the County.

F. Regulations – Structures.

1. The installation of structures and/or equipment shall demonstrate the following:

a. The design and location of such structures and/or equipment does not effectively preclude surface navigation, recreational boating, and other public use of shoreline waters; and

b. Safe and unobstructed passage is provided for fish and wildlife.

2. Over-water structures and/or equipment, and any items stored upon such structures such as materials, garbage, tools, or apparatus, shall be designed and maintained to minimize visual impacts. The maximum height above water for permanent structures shall be limited to three feet from the deck surface of the float or dock unless shoreline conditions serve to minimize visual impacts (for example: high bank environments, shorelines without residential development). Height limitations do not apply to materials and apparatus removed from the site on a daily basis or to required safety-related equipment.

G. Regulations – Species.

1. New aquatic species that have not been previously cultivated in Washington State shall not be introduced into the County without prior written approval of the Director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

2. New finfish aquaculture involving net pens for anadromous species shall be prohibited throughout Pierce County marine waters located south and west of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

3. Finfish aquaculture involving net pens for anadromous species are prohibited in all marine waters of Pierce County where there are aquatic reserve areas in place.

(Ord. 2019-59 § 1 (part), 2019; Ord. 2018-57s § 1 (part), 2018; Ord. 2013-45s4 § 7 (part), 2015)