The Politics About California Oysters Comes Out of Its Shell

A species of Pacific oyster
(photo: Wikipedia)

If you thought you needed a tough shell to survive politics, consider the plight of oysters.

The Feds have announced that a commercial oyster farm, housed inside California's Point Reyes National Seashore, has to close in the next 90 days. This story embraces a lot of local history and national political agendas. The enterprise -- Drakes Bay Oyster Company -- has generated an outpouring of support throughout northern California, where Point Reyes is located. That "love" includes pressure from Democratic US senator Diane Feinstein, who is from nearby San Francisco. Meanwhile, some environmentalists have insisted the oyster farm close, consistent with the terms of its one-time, 40-year federal lease, which has just expired.

As reported in a recent edition of the Mercury News, the contract language forms the basis for the Interior Department's ruling to follow through on Drake Bay's closure. The department's boss, Ken Salazar, personally got involved in the decision.

Drakes Estero
(photo: Mercury News)

Why should we care? Well, the oyster farm appeared to offer sustainable "farming" of the mollusks. Jobs were created; consumers were happy. Nearby dairy farms, also on federal land, were not forced to shut down. The environment did not appear to be jeopardized. However, those who wanted the national seashore to return to its pristine state, as was promised in the federal charter, would not be denied. "Drakes Estero," which includes the Drakes Bay Oyster Company site, is among the few remaining protected natural sanctuaries remaining in northern California. Its existence is critical to a number of marine, bird, and terrestrial animal species. Why should an oyster farm, whose owners had decades of notice regarding the termination of its lease, receive a waiver?

In short, the Drakes Bay Oyster Company episode characterizes the contemporary concern over useful economic activity and environmental concerns. What makes the story even more intriguing is its pull between the desire for high-end, sustainable food production and a more broadly based, rigorous defense of vital nature preserves. This is a dilemma for prosperous political liberals, heightened by Drake Bay's location in the heart of arguably the most politically progressive area of the United States.

Sign showing American Plate and Pacific Plate,
Earthquake Trail/Point Reyes National Seashore
(photo: Chris Visco, via EPOD/NASA)

I visited the fringes of Point Reyes when I briefly lived in San Francisco two decades ago. It's a beautiful, extremely foggy, chilly site which juts into the Pacific Ocean. The national seashore is essentially the visible extension of the San Andreas Fault into the sea. Like all such sightings in the Bay Area, it seemed a little eerie to me. The residents near Point Reyes didn't share that feeling. For all the supposed liberalism, they weren't necessarily keen on openness. Nearby Bolinas was notorious for misleading traffic signage to keep "strangers" out. It might have been paradise, but Point Reyes was living on borrowed time. So was Drakes Bay Oyster Company. Now it's last call in Point Reyes for the company's 32 employees.  The irony of the demand for a "return of nature" will provide these displaced workers little solace.