From the archives of the Bremerton Progress, which is now the Bremerton Patriot

This Day in History: June 19, 1991

On June 19, 1991, the Bremerton Progress reported that Kitsap County officials had approved a controversial land swap, changing the zoning of a South Kitsap site so that forested land would be protected from housing developments.

This led the Department of Natural Resources to veto the sale of land in Silverdale that had been bookmarked as the future home to expanded Central Kitsap administrative offices. The land deal in Silverdale had proposed 13 acres of land for a new county administrative center and 20 acres for a park.

According to Marvel Hunt of Silverdale’s History Club, this deal was one of many ventures the Central Kitsap School Board was considering. She was on the school board at the time and said they were looking for land on which they could build a new bus department, maintenance facilities, and a new school, Cougar Valley.

(Fast forward to 2016: The History Club is dedicated to preserving local history; its July meeting will be at Waterfront Park. All are welcome. For more information, contact Randy Hunt at 360-509-9173).

Also on June 19, 1991, the Bremerton Progress reported that the state Department of Natural Resources had proposed a plan to harvest geoducks from state-owned tidal lands. The plan encompassed 10 locations around the county, including nearly a dozen locations in the Puget Sound and Hood Canal region, notably Illahee State Park. The plan would allow divers to use high-pressure water jets to blast geoducks from the sediment in a process opponents called “underwater clear-cutting.”

Geoducks are the world’s largest burrowing clam, averaging about 2 pounds. The name “geoduck” (pronounced “gooey-duck”) is Native American in origin and means “dig deep.” Geoducks have been found burrowing as deep as 360 feet in Puget Sound, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

According to the DNR Habitat Conservation Plan from July 2008, commercial harvests of geoducks have occurred since the early 1970s, with the biggest market sales in Japan. Geoducks are a major economic export for the state, regulated by DNR, Fish and Wildlife, and 16 Tribes.

Geoducks may be harvested year-round in Washington, according to the Fish and Wildlife website, though harvesters are limited to three clams per day. Harvesting is considered low impact.

Environmentalists maintain their concerns that geoducks will be overharvested by aquaculture farming and that other underwater species will be negatively affected.

— Allison Trunkey is a correspondent for Sound Publishing Kitsap. She graduated from Central Kitsap High School in 2014 and is majoring in English at Skidmore College.