Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.5, Walker Creek mess, much progress

Posted on March 24, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

On 22 March I once again visited the oyster lease area at the mouth of Walker Creek in Tomales Bay.

I am pleased to report that much work has taken place and the amount of debris is significantly less. There are still many large diameter PVC pipes of unknown length in the channel, as well as shell-filled oyster bags to recover, though it seems these too will be removed.

This short video will show you the status of this structure as of 22 March, 2015.

Here is a view of the structure as I am drifting down Walker Creek channel.

What follows are some stills of the area that is being returned to a natural state.

As always, click on an image to see it larger.

Area of unpermitted structure in Tomales Bay at Walker Creek

mostly submerged PVC tubes and shell-filled growout bags at area of unpermitted structure in Tomales Bay at Walker Creek

pile of PVC tubes at area of unpermitted structure in Tomales Bay at Walker Creek

South end of unpermitted structure in Tomales Bay at Walker Creek

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.4, Walker Creek mess, progress continues

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

Yesterday (14 March) I once again visited the oyster lease area at the mouth of Walker Creek in Tomales Bay.

This short video will show you the status of this structure as of 14 March, 2015.

Here is another view from my boat as I drifted by it, Pierce Point Ranch is seen in the background along with Pierce Point.

As always, click an image to see a larger version

TBOC unpermitted dike on Walker Creek – Tomales Bay

PVC tubes from TBOC unpermitted dike on Walker Creek – Tomales Bay

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 19, Abandoned oyster bags, same as it ever was

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

Last week, in addition to monitoring the progress of the removal of the illegal dike along Walker Creek as it enters Tomales Bay, I engaged in a regular activity when boating on Tomales Bay, picking up abandoned oyster grow-out bags.

This day I found nearly fifty. The map below shows where I found the bags this day, as well as where I left them piled up (see red arrows).

A map showing the location of the bags where found, as well as where I stacked them so that the growers might come out and recover them will be posted here on Friday [I neglected to upload it along with the images of the trash].

The images that follow show that many of these bags have been there for weeks, or months. One sees pickleweed or salt grass growing through the bag, holding it tightly in place, where, if it were not for me to yank it out of the vegetation, it would likely become part of the environment forever.

This speaks to the urgent need of the growers to do weekly patrols of their leases and a large area near the leases to recover the scores and scores of bags that go missing each week.

The banner image shows the many pieces of plastic coated wire carelessly dropped to the mud after serving the needs of the short-sighted oyster farmer. Note that the plastic insulation has begun disintegrating. This plastic will eventually enter the food chain of the very oysters being raised.

You can see a larger version of the wire image below. These wires were collected in less than 15 minutes as I walked along two rows of rusting iron racks that once held oysters in place to feed on the algae. These two rows were a fraction of the total rows of racks. So what you see is a tiny fraction of the plastic coated copper wire dropped as so much litter. These racks are located in the area leased by Point Reyes Oyster Company, lease M-430-17.

As always, click an image to see a larger version.

long ago abandoned grow-out bag

bundle of 17 bags abandoned north of Walker Cr., east of Preston Point

Stanway rack board, I find these all over Tomales Bay, used primarily by Hog Island Oysters

Abandoned 25″ TV tube, full of lead

TV inner workings

deteriorating plastic-coated copper wire recovered from Point Reyes Oyster Company lease

This bundle of Tomales Bay Oyster Company bags was found a 1/2 mile up Walker Creek buried in the mud mid-channel, east of the Tomales Bay Oyster Company lease

Tomales Bay Oyster Company workers leave these hay hooks all over the place in Tomales Bay, I find them in the mud, rusted in half, or whole like this one

PVC pipe, grow-out bag and rope collected on or near the Tomales Bay Oyster Company lease

PVC pipes, nearly buried in the mud. The TBOC leases have these pipes in varying states of buried-ness ALL OVER their leases.

Abandoned bag, buried in the mud. There are likely thousands of these buried beneath the mud surface

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.3, Walker Creek mess, some progress

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

Yesterday (6 March) I once again visited the oyster lease area at the mouth of Walker Creek in Tomales Bay.

Prior to reaching the site of an unpermitted structure that has been altering the natural flow of Walker Creek for years, I was blessed with the sight of hundreds of marbled godwits, seasoned with some willets and sanderlings.

There is evidence of progress in the cleanup, which is good.

There is also evidence that the scope of this egregious misuse of the public commons is greater than even I imagined.

The number of plastic grow-out bags used to form a channel moving dike is uncountable. The bags and PVC pipe used to anchor them go on forever into the channel they have harassed for years.

Let’s hope that Tomales Bay Oyster Company keeps at it and quickly removes this pox on an industry whose welcome is teetering on the edge of worn out in some quarters.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Presenting salvage vessel Deep Respect

Posted on March 2, 2015 by Coastodian

Click on the words above “Presenting salvage vessel Deep Respect” to see this entire post.

I am proud to announce the acquisition of a new salvage vessel.

With much thanks and gratitude to those who have donated to help me with my coastal cleanup work (see link above), along with some funds earned from my work cleaning Tomales Bay, I acquired a sleek, light and fast canak from the kind folks at California Canoe & Kayak.

The owner of CCK purchased this boat with the intention of running The Green River back in 2011. Well, life happened in other ways and that trip has not yet happened, though I am sure it soon will. So he put the Canak by Wenonah Canoes up for sale. After one morning paddling her in the Oakland Estuary, I knew she’d be a great boat for recovering the never ending supply of garbage found in Tomales Bay. While testing her out I picked up a large amount trash, no surprise that, eh? I may find a lot of trash in Tomales Bay, but let me tell you, The Oakland Estuary far surpasses in breadth and nastiness.

This boat is light enough to carry on one shoulder. The open deck allows me to fill it with abandoned oyster grow out bags, bits of rope, zip-ties, copper wire, blue foam bits, gloves, water bottles etc. Last weekend I packed 23 bags in her with room to spare. I plan to make deck attachments to allow for easy stacking of oyster grow out bags, as there are hundreds, if not thousands of abandoned bags waiting to be recovered from the bottom and shores of Tomales Bay.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

And remember, if you want to directly help keep the coast of California clean, click that “Donate” link up above. Your generous donation will be put to work undoing the damage we humans continue to inflict on our only home, earth.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.2, Walker Creek mess, Deconstruction

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

Yesterday (28 Feb) I once again visited the oyster lease area at the mouth of Walker Creek in Tomales Bay.

For a number of years, one of the five growers in Tomales Bay (Tomales Bay Oyster Company), has been building unpermitted structures with the aim of deflecting the flow of Walker Creek (and the e. coli-laden mud) away from the area of public lands they lease for the purpose of growing oysters. It is my understanding the neighboring leaseholders have not been too happy about this activity. If mother-earth could speak with a human voice, I wonder what she would say?

NOAA issued a permit so that TBOC could legally deconstruct what I would call the most egregious of these structures I have seen with my very own eyes.

This is the state of the “dike” on 28 February, 2015 240 PM

What follows are still images of the same dike area.

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

©Richard James – coastodian.org

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.1, Walker Creek mess, construction

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Coastodian

Click the words “Save our Tomales Bay…..” above to see this entire post.

Yesterday I paid a visit to the mouth of Walker Creek where it enters Tomales Bay.

There are 4 growers that extract profits in the form of oysters in this area.

Storms regularly rip their equipment out and paint it all over Tomales Bay, and the entire ocean.

These bags become lodged in the mud and pickleweed and are buried, to be ground into plastic bits forever.

The farmers must walk these areas every month, if not more often, to ensure the mess they make gets cleaned up before being buried in the mud and pickleweed.

The regulating agencies must exercise their authority and ensure that laws are being observed, fining those that continue to break the laws enacted to protect the environment.

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This post will be updated, so come back to see more of the damage caused to our fragile planet by oyster farming.

Volume warning, turn your sound down

Next related post may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18, Walker Creek mess, construction

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Coastodian

Click the words above “Save our Tomales Bay – part 18,…” to see this entire post.

We’ve had some strong weather around these parts.

Witness the following images recorded today (29 Dec) showing the area at the mouth of Walker Creek.

There are four different oyster-farming leaseholders at this location. Maybe you can determine who runs which lease…

As always, click on an image to see a larger version.

©Richard James – coastodian.org – Here is one way to operate a lease….

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – And here is another way….

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Seems some new construction has been going on in Tomales Bay.

A fence, of sorts has sprung up.

©Richard James – coastodian.org

To get an idea where it is located, here are two images from Google Earth showing waypoints I marked when at this new structure.

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Here is a closeup version of the image above.

The red line shows where two “fences” are in Tomales Bay. Note the length of these structures, as well as the length of a previous structure from last year that is no longer present, yet shown in the google earth image from last year.

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – Plastic coated copper wire left as so much garbage….This sort of dis-respect of the very environment being capitalized upon really irks me.

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – More tools of the trade left in Tomales Bay, as if it were the leaseholders’ garage and this were a hobby.

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – Ah what the heck, let’s just leave these here, nobody will notice.

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – All of these PVC pipes you see are different pieces left to the sun and tides.

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org

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©Richard James – coastodian.org – Yet another tool left in the Tomales Bay.

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Oyster farming is very, very hard work, no doubt about that. But if it cannot be done without leaving the sort of mess you see in the above images, perhaps the leases need to be reduced in size so that the existing crews CAN keep everyone’s environment looking much better. In addition, workers need to NOT leave their tools, gloves, bottled water etc. out on “their worksite”, AKA Tomales Bay, home to a multitude of birds, fish and insects.

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Next installment may be found here.

Previous related post may be found here.

See the first post in this series “Save our Tomales Bay” here.

Whose job is it anyhow….?

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Coastodian

Click the words above “Whose job is it anyhow….?” to see this entire post.

Can anyone tell me whose job is it to ensure that the mess left by The Drakes Bay Oyster Company gets cleaned up?

I’ve asked people at the California Coastal Commission, Department of Fish & Wildlife and the National Park Service this very question. Twice!

I’ve not heard a peep from anyone, after nearly two weeks.

It seems important to find out whose job it is. In the past, when oyster leases changed hands in West Marin, or operations shut down, big messes get left – see images below.

All those years profits being made, and every time, the earth gets left holding the [grow-out]bag, [polyethylene]tube, [nylon]rope, [PVC]pipe, zip-tie etc….

As always, click on a picture to see a larger version.

Sustainable oyster farming, West Marin style.
Click image to see larger version.

Above is what Charlie Johnson (and now Kevin Lunny) want to gift to the planet.
No thanks, please clean up YOUR mess.

Oyster farming trash left on the floor of Drakes Estero by Drakes bay Oyster Company

Thousands of feral non-native oysters left growing in Drakes Estero by DBOC

Some of the hundreds, likely thousands of “french tubes” left to rot on the floor of Drakes Estero by DBOC.

One string of oysters covered with non-native, invasive tunicate D. vexilium. There are many dozens, possibly hundreds more just like this, left in Drakes Estero by DBOC.

Above are iron oyster racks, likely from Drew Alden, left in the southern Tomales Bay lease now operated by Todd Friend at TBOC.
No thanks, please clean up YOUR mess.

abandoned plastic trays – Tomales Bay Oyster Company

Above was left when Drew Alden sold his lease to Todd Friend over 5 years ago.
Why is this mess still disgracing Tomales Bay?

abandoned grow out bags covered with marine growth – Tomales Bay Oyster Company

Above was left when Drew Alden sold his lease to Todd Friend over 5 years ago.
Why is this mess still disgracing Tomales Bay?

Location – 38.128490° N -122.864172° W Datum WGS84

Not sure who so generously left this mess in Tomales Bay.
No thanks, please clean up YOUR mess.

On the eastern shore of Tomales Bay, north of Walker Creek you’ll find this mess from oyster operations begun and abruptly ended decades ago.
Why is this mess still disgracing Tomales Bay?

If people want to make an honest buck farming oysters, that is fine by me. It is hard work, no question about that. But, taking shortcuts, short-sighted business practices and just plain arrogance has been trashing the planet.

The disgraceful disaster scattered on the bottom of the thousand acre lease of precious Drakes Estero is at zero to ten feet below sea level usually.

We now have an opportunity to see the stewards of the land, with a deep respect for the waters of Drakes Estero show us just how deep their respect is.

Sustainable Oyster Farming, West Marin Style – part 5 DBOC trash in Drakes Estero, director’s cut

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Coastodian

Click the words above, “Sustainable Oyster Farming, West Marin Style…” to see this entire post.

Due to popular demand, a shorter version of the staggeringly popular seven minute film showing the garbage left behind by the Drakes Bay Oyster Company has been released.

See below for the distilled three minute version.

Be sure to click the rectangle icon in lower right of video window to fill your screen with the image.

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See the next post in this series here

The Coastodian

Tag Archives: oyster farming trash

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.5, Walker Creek mess, much progress

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.4, Walker Creek mess, progress continues

Save our Tomales Bay – part 19, Abandoned oyster bags, same as it ever was

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.3, Walker Creek mess, some progress

Presenting salvage vessel Deep Respect

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.2, Walker Creek mess, Deconstruction

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18.1, Walker Creek mess, construction

Save our Tomales Bay – part 18, Walker Creek mess, construction

Whose job is it anyhow….?

Sustainable Oyster Farming, West Marin Style – part 5 DBOC trash in Drakes Estero, director’s cut