(Light photo by Robert Plotkin)
By Peter Jamison
Commercial oyster farming began in Drakes Estero in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but by some accounts the history of shellfish cultivation on
Over the millennia Drakes Estero, now part of the Point Reyes National Seashore, hasn't changed much. Its shallow water - some six feet deep throughout - is still cold and clear, and, seen from the shore on a sunny day, astonishingly blue. Humans are still pulling oysters out of the estuary's narrow, finger-shaped bays.
In coming years that could change. Kevin Lunny owns Drake's Bay Oyster Company, formerly known as Johnson's Oyster Company, the cannery that has operated on Drakes Estero since the 1940s. He says that he was told by National Seashore Superintendent Don Neubacher more than a year ago - before he bought the cannery - that the park plans to end oyster farming in the estuary. In a telephone interview this week, park administrators confirmed that when the company's current lease expires, six years from now, it will not be renewed.
But few outside of the agricultural and environmental communities are aware that Drake's Bay Oyster is to be shut down. The expected closure will mark the end both of a living piece of West Marin's history and of one of the state's most significant shellfish producers.
According to Lunny, thousands of visitors flock to the cannery, located on the
Sustainable ag model
"I'd hate to see it go," said Tom Moore, a marine biologist for Fish and Game. "It's got the best water quality of any of the leases in the state. It's a green business. It's been in operation a long time. As far as Marin goes, it could be a lot to the economy." In 2004,
Lunny, who grew up on the neighboring historic "G" ranch, is known in West Marin as a luminary of the organic farming movement. His beef ranch, which he also leases from the National Seashore, was the first in the county to have its pastures certified organic, and to date still has the county's only certified organic cattle. A soft-spoken, broad-shouldered man with salt-and-pepper hair and an easy smile, Lunny this week explained the place of shellfish in sustainable agriculture as he looked out over the
"What this oyster farm represents is our best example of a sustainable food system," he said. "It's the poster child. We can produce 10 times the amount of protein per acre in water that we can on land. We don't use fertilizers, we don't till our land, we don't have to feed these animals. Sustainably as we can grow beef, we still have to use fossil fuels to prepare feeds for winter, to do the feeding and moving of the animals, and for processing. I think the biggest environmental tragedy that could happen here is to lose this production."
'A fantastic job of cleaning up'
Lunny bought the farm last year from owner Tom Johnson, whose father founded Johnson's Oyster Company in 1957. Before that, the operation was run by the Coast Oyster Company, based in
In later years, production fell off, as the Johnsons poured money into improvements intended to reduce the farm's impact on the estuary. County, state, and federal agencies demanded that problems with the company's septic system and overcrowded worker housing be fixed.
As a child, Lunny says, he would often watch the Johnsons' oystermen at work from the pastures of his family's neighboring ranch, and was eager to buy the cannery when it came up for sale. Although he was told up front by Park Supt. Neubacher that the lease would not be renewed in 2012, he has so far poured $300,000 into various environmental cleanups.
"Kevin has done a fantastic job of cleaning up," National Seashore spokesman John Dell'Osso said. "Everything that we've asked him to do, he's done."
Feds claimed estuary for wilderness area
Neubacher said this week that in not renewing the lease the park will be following the intent of Congress, which designated Drakes Estero as a potential wilderness area in 1976. The park administration essentially has no choice in keeping the farm open, he said, since congressional legislation directs the park to remove commercial activities from potential wilderness tracts - changing them to full wilderness - as soon as possible.
"From our perspective, Congress told us what to do, and we're following that," Neubacher said. Attorneys from the Department of the Interior have confirmed that the area should go to full wilderness in 2012, he said. At this point, he added, only an act of Congress would make it possible for Drake's Bay Oyster to remain open longer.
Marin County Agricultural Commissioner Stacy Carlsen, who supports continued oyster farming in Drakes Estero, challenges the assertion that the National Seashore has no choice in preserving the historic operation.
"That's too easy," he said, "to fall back and say we have this guidance document and just to ignore the historical significance of farming out on the point." He said that he considers aquaculture an integral part of the county's agricultural makeup, particularly since it lends diversity to food production. "To me this is not just a decision made in a vacuum. This deals with people's lives and the integrity of our farming community."
Oysters and the estuary
Some local environmental activists support the end of oyster farming in Drakes Estero. Both the Sierra Club's Marin chapter and the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin sent letters to the Park Service supporting the transformation of the area to wilderness at the end of the current lease; the Sierra Club's letter also proposes various ways to limit oyster cultivation in the company's six remaining years.
Intent of Congress aside, the extent of oyster farming's impact on the estuary and its wildlife is questionable. In theory, shellfish cultivation can have several harmful effects: imported oyster seed can carry non-native diseases, and harvest-boats on the estuary can leak gasoline into the water or disturb harbor seals from the sandbars where they sun themselves.
But park officials and environmentalists agree that Lunny has done much to reduce those threats. Drake's Bay Oyster cultivates its own seed, eliminating the risk of imported pathogens; avoids harbor seal haulout sites, as identified by the Park Service; and plans to install quieter, cleaner boat engines. At a recent meeting, Lunny said, local environmental leaders agreed that he had successfully minimized all impacts except one - the "visual impact" of oyster racks protruding above the water's surface.
Other environmentalists
Some in the environmental movement question whether uprooting the oyster operation is necessary to preserve the estuary's health.
"You can have an estuary that's got wilderness protection on it and also have sustainable food production," said Bolinas organic farmer Peter Martinelli, who sits on the Environmental Action Committee's board of directors. "I don't think one should come at the expense of the other."
"To rip out an operation that has been in place for 40 years that uses no inputs, no chemicals, no fertilizers, no feeds - it is very, very questionable to me if that's a good approach," Hellberg said. "To eliminate [Drake's Bay Oyster] and ship in oysters from
Ranchers' concerns
The fate of Drake's Bay Oyster Company worries some ranchers in the National Seashore. In the legislation that created the park, special provisions were made for the dairy and beef ranches that existed on
While no such exception was made specifically for aquaculture, fear has taken root in the ranching community that the closure of the oyster farm might signal a new view towards agriculture in the park.
"If the park ends the lease of Drake's Bay Oyster Company, what is that saying to the rest of the leasees?" Asked David Evans, a fourth-generation rancher on
Lunny said that those who want agriculture eliminated from the National Seashore will see the oyster farm's closure as a milestone. "Everybody's saying, okay, if this happens, who's next. Whether they're rational concerns or not, those are the concerns," he said.
Park Supt. Neubacher said that the situation at Drake's Bay Oyster has no bearing on the leases of other ranchers, since aquaculture, unlike ranching, is not protected under the laws that created the park.
"That's a resounding no," he said. "The legislation was pretty clear that we could do dairy and beef ranching, and there's no wilderness on ranchlands."
What the public wants
Lunny's business plan for the oyster company will allow his family to recoup their expenses within six years - "we'll get out with our skin, barely," he said - but when speaking to him, one has the impression that the preservation of Drakes Bay Oyster is about more than money.
"As I got to understand what this was, I just really got excited," he said. "This was
"The park administration has told us they're not going to renew our lease in 2012, because they need to actively make this a full wilderness," he continued. "Well, if that's what the people of the
On an afternoon this week at Drakes Estero, few customers appeared to be aware that the farm is slated for closure in just six years. "No way," said
"They should keep this open," he said. "Why close it? Where's our history? There's too many of these things disappearing." After handing his money across the counter in Drake's Bay's small storefront, he hoisted his bag of oysters and walked out to his car. "The story will be, 'oh, that's where the oyster farm used to be,'" he said, "rather than, 'let's go in and get some.'"