U.S. District Judge Edward Rafeedie of California, who ruled in December 1994 that 15 tribes are entitled to harvest half the naturally occurring clams, oysters, mussels, crabs and shrimp in Puget Sound and the associated inland marine waters. has announced a plan for handling disputes between land owners and Indian tribes that are entitled to gather shellfish under 19th century treaties. Both sides say they are satisfied.

The process, welcomed by tribes as well as property rights activists, sends all tribal harvesting disputes to the same federal magistrate. Affected tideland owners can represent themselves if they object to tribal shellfish gathering plans.

Still unresolved is the question of how tribes can harvest their share of the harvest in areas enhanced by commercial growers. Once harvest levels are set, the two sides must determine how to manage tribal and commercial harvests on the same beaches.

"It's the biggest issue we have. Other than the pollution threat, the shellfish litigation has been the big issue on our horizon for 10 to 11 years," said Brett Bishop, a fifth-generation shellfish grower in Mason County and president of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association.

Tribal officials, working with leaders of the $30-million-a-year Puget Sound shellfish industry, hope to resolve that question in October and implement any regulations that may be needed in January. The parties are trying to decide how much shellfish tribes are entitled to, based on when the property was put into commercial production and the estimated amount of shellfish present in the 1850s, said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for the Puget Sound Shellfish Growers Legal Defense Fund.