Letters to the editor

The rules of wild harvesting

A state parks volunteer has been in contact with me regarding an article that ran recently in Pacific Northwest magazine ("Where the Wild Things Are," Dec. 18).

I'd like to address some of her concerns. The area of Deception Pass State Park where the activity (of gathering seaweed and other marine life) took place is one of seven designated underwater parks in the state park system. This is important as the designation gives Washington State Parks control of the bedlands (sea floor below certain low water).

At Deception Pass this designation encompasses all of Rosario Bay out to Northwest Island, all of Bowman Bay out to and beyond Deception Island, and the north half of Deception Pass westward of the Deception Pass Bridge. Normally these bedlands would be under the control of Washington Department of Natural Resources, and their regulations would apply. Because of the bedlands jurisdiction, seaweeds attached to the sea floor below the "mean lower low-water line" are under the jurisdiction of State Parks. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for establishing harvest limits on organisms within the water as well as those found on the sea floor.

In this case, State Parks, in consultation with Fish and Wildlife, determines whether harvest of attached seaweeds and marine organisms is allowed. State Parks is charged with the often conflicting tasks of providing recreation — including recreational harvest of edibles, and protecting and passing on high-quality natural resources. To accomplish that, Parks has decided that the only sites where seaweed may be harvested within State Parks is at Fort Flagler State Park, Fort Ebey State Park and Fort Worden State Park. This seaweed harvest is strictly controlled and has a specific season. Page 131 of Fish and Wildlife's booklet on harvest regulations has the information that your journalist and her group of gatherers apparently missed.

I'm going to assume that Mac Smith, your snorkeling ethnobotanist, had a shellfish license when he harvested the red urchin. Red urchins are a classified marine organism and as such are legal for harvest within State Parks. We try to dissuade gatherers from harvesting them within the intertidal zone so they can be seen and enjoyed by all park visitors. The chitons that were grilled and the limpets packed in rice and nori are considered unclassified marine invertebrates and as such are protected within State Parks (again, see page 131). I'm grateful that you placed the "Before You Dive In" warning so your readers become aware of licenses and regulations. The trick is to read those regulations carefully.

Adjacent to Bowman Bay is Rosario Head and Urchin Rocks. This is one of a very few publicly accessible rocky intertidal areas (real tide pools). The Beach Watchers volunteer organization has adopted this area because of its wonderful bio-diversity and the immediate threat posed by thousands of people wanting to go "tide pooling." The result of this has been a significant decline in bio-diversity and slower recovery of the tide pools from all the visitations during the spring and summer. Much of the volunteer's concern is a result of seeing this human impact on a very fragile resource. Bowman Bay where your reporter did her harvesting is literally right around the corner from Rosario.

Finally, I'm quite concerned that the ranger that contacted your reporter and her group failed to make them aware of the regulations. I can only hope that it was a young and inexperienced individual who overlooked or was unaware of the specific prohibitions on seaweed and unclassified marine invertebrate harvest. I assure you that Deception Pass park staff and all rangers in our Northwest region will be reminded of their obligation to make people aware of all the regulations.

Ted Smith, assistant regional manager, stewardship Washington State Parks, NW region, Burlington

Send letters to the editor to Pacific Northwest magazine, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or e-mail pacificnw@seattletimes.com. Include a telephone number for verification.