LONG BEACH, Wash. (AP) — A southwest Washington oyster growers association has abandoned a drive to use a controversial insecticide that combats burrowing shrimp, a creature that can make tidelands unfit for shellfish farming.

In a settlement reached last week, the Willapa Grays Harbor Growers Association agreed to accept a 2018 Ecology Department denial of the proposed use of the chemical and drop an appeal.

The growers wanted to use the insecticide to spray tidelands used for shellfish cultivation in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Without the spray, the growers say they lose productive tidelands to the shrimp, which churn up sediment and can cause oysters and clams to suffocate in the muck.