QUILCENE, Wash. - Investigators call it a theft ring involving thousands of pounds of prized Washington state seafood.
For more than a year, they watched suspects from a shellfish company steal oysters and clams from public and private beaches, and in Jefferson County, this crime strikes at the heart of the economy.
Deputies responded to a call this morning of shots fired on the beach near Brinnon.
Workers complained that a grower was upset about losing a lucrative shellfish contract is trying to scare them off the beach. It's one more example of how tempers and temptations can flare over the region's most dependable industry.
Yesterday deputies and officers from state and federal Fish and Wildlife agencies swooped in on this shellfish operation, G & R Quality Seafood in Quilcene, surprising suspects and neighbors.
It was multiagency raid after months of watching its G&R employees allegedly steal oysters and clams from public and private beaches.
Legitimate harvesters, like Taylor Shellfish, say when people are stealing oyster and clams, the reputation of an entire industry and the health of the public is suddenly at risk.
Everything Taylor harvests is bagged and tagged.
Some beaches in the area are closed to shellfish harvesting for public health concerns. Investigators say they never witnessed the suspects taking shellfish from closed areas, but they did recover 400 pounds of oysters and clams in a van at the G&R facility and since it wasn't tagged, it had to be destroyed.
The two men arrested in the case appeared in court today. One was released without bail, the other is remains in jail. More arrests are anticipated.
