SHELTON, Wash. (AP) - Puget Sound tribes and commercial shellfish growers celebrated a $33 million treaty rights settlement Friday, with a ceremonial signing of the agreement that ends years of legal dispute.
Tribal leaders and growers gathered at a shellfish farm in Shelton with Gov. Chris Gregoire and U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks to eat shellfish and celebrate the settlement, which was approved by the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission in May and by a federal judge last week. The official agreement was signed a few weeks ago, said Tony Forsman, chief negotiator for the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
The settlement stems from a 1994 federal court ruling entitling the tribes to a share of shellfish grown on some Washington tidelands.
Under the settlement, the tribes will give up their rights to harvest shellfish worth $2 million a year from commercial shellfish beds in the Puget Sound region. In return, they get to split $33 million in federal and state money to buy and lease tidelands, giving them rights to take all the shellfish that come under their ownership.
Commercial growers will also pay $500,000 over 10 years to enhance public tidelands and boost the harvests of clams, oysters and other shellfish for everyone.
In addition to the growers cited in the settlement, the agreement also covers 22 commercial shellfish beds owned by the state and managed by the Department of Natural Resources. Recreational beaches, such as state parks, are not covered.
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