Regulations could kill California’s largest shellfish farmer

Coast Seafoods Company, a shellfish producer operating in California’s Humboldt Bay for the past 65 years, is at risk of shutting down because of it has been denied crucial permits, says a report.

The California Coastal Commission in June voted 6-5 to deny permits for both the company’s existing 230 acres of shellfish farming as well as a proposed 265-acre expansion. The commissioners who voted to deny the permit renewal and expansion asserted that the company “had not adequately addressed potential impacts to ecologically significant eelgrass beds in the bay.” Humboldt Bay covers a total of 17,000 acres. The disputed area, therefore, comprises less than three percent of the bay, reported The American Spectator.

Coast Seafoods has 80 employees and an annual payroll of $2 million. The company also operates two hatcheries and research facilities that produce oyster and clam larvae and seed for its own use and other shellfish growers worldwide.

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