Shellfish Growers Appeal Ruling On Tribal Rights

Commercial shellfish growers have appealed a federal court ruling that gives 15 Northwest Indian tribes the right to harvest shellfish on private lands.

The Puget Sound Shellfish Growers, with 65 members, say the ruling last month by U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie allows tribes the right to take shellfish even where private growers have built businesses over generations.

“It means the judge brings everything back to 1854,” Bill Dewey of Taylor United, the state’s largest oyster grower, said Thursday. “He doesn’t acknowledge the majority of things we do to cultivate shellfish.”

Rafeedie based his decision in part on treaties signed in 1854 and 1855 and ordered the state and tribes to report to him by Jan. 31 with a plan to implement the decision. Those treaties guaranteed rights of the Indians but said they could not go on beds that were staked and cultivated.

The growers have asked Rafeedie to stay implementation of his ruling until all appeals are exhausted.

Jim Johnson, attorney for United Property Owners of Washington, also plans to appeal the ruling. His group includes tidelands owners. And John Hough, senior assistant attorney general, said the state would join any appeal.