Willapa Bay oyster growers renew request to use pesticides

SEATTLE — Oyster growers in Willapa Bay are again asking state regulators to allow the spraying of pesticides to control shrimp that are devastating their crops.

In a Seattle law office surrounded by photos of their industry, growers said they are trying to survive a crisis.

"It is do or die for us," grower Annie Brown said.

Growers say oyster beds increasingly are muddy messes because of burrowing shrimp that turn beds into quicksand where oysters sink and suffocate.

"They're a meter below the surface and they're hard to get down and control that," said Kim Patten of Washington State University.

Patten joined a news conference with growers to say that the only practical solution is to spray empty oyster beds with pesticides, six months before they're planted and up to three years before they're harvested.

The pesticide that they want to use is a neurotoxin called Imidacloprid, which Patten says is much safer than a previous pesticide used since the 1960s.

Growers say studies show that the pesticide does not reach the meat of oysters and dissipates quickly in the environment.

State regulators approved the use of the neurotoxin last year, which led to an outcry among prominent Seattle chefs.

"When you have chefs saying they're not going to serve tainted oysters, well, they obviously didn't have the correct information," oyster grower Marilyn Sheldon said.

Under pressure, oyster growers withdrew their permit request for 2015.

State regulators then canceled it entirely.

Growers announced Friday that they want that permit back.

Officials from the state Department of Ecology say they will review the request.

But growers face several hurdles.

Ecology officials say the state Department of Agriculture's registration of the pesticide has expired.

And the EPA is reviewing the impacts of Imidacloprid, including on bees.

KIRO