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Port Gamble S’Klallam fish buyer bonds.
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The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s 2026–2027 Buyers Agreement is blunt about geoduck: “A bond is mandatory for all geoduck Buyers.” Appendix A accepts a surety bond naming the Tribe as obligee, in a minimum amount set by your purchase volume. A specialist returns a quote, usually within one business day.
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From Buyers Agreement to filed bond.
A geoduck buyer cannot buy from Port Gamble S’Klallam fishers until the security is on file with the Natural Resources Department. Here is the whole process:
Send us the details
Apply online with your buyer number, the date you signed the Buyers Agreement, your license type, and the bond amount your volume tier requires. Tell us your estimated annual geoduck purchases so we can confirm the tier.
A specialist underwrites it
A surety specialist reviews the application, the soft credit pull, and your buying history, then returns a quote. The Tribe sets the minimum amount — underwriting decides approval and any collateral.
Sign & file with PGST
Once you accept the quote, the executed bond naming the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe as obligee arrives by email, ready to send with your signed Buyers Agreement packet to the Natural Resources Department in Kingston.
What it is and who needs it.
What the geoduck buyer bond actually secures
The Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, whose reservation sits at Little Boston near Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula, licenses the buyers who purchase tribally caught fish and shellfish. Its Fishing Code, Title 17, § 17.07.04, lets the Tribe restrict sales to approved or licensed buyers and authorizes a Fish Buyer Agreement whose conditions “may include, but are not limited to, license fees, bonding and other conditions” set by the Fisheries Manager. The Natural Resources Department reissues that Agreement every season; the current edition runs to July 15, 2027.
Appendix A requires the surety bond to expire no earlier than July 15 of the following year.
Every PGST buyer needs the license, but the bond is not universal. Section D.1 makes it mandatory for all geoduck buyers, who must also withhold the Tribe’s geoduck stumpage and pay it to PGST. Section G.2 adds a second trigger: a buyer whose check to the Tribe or a tribal member is returned for non-sufficient funds must post a bond at the Appendix A, Section III rate before buying again. Buyers of other species who are in good standing post a bond only “if applicable.”
Appendix A sets two volume tables. New buyers and buyers in good standing who withhold stumpage post a minimum of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 for estimated annual purchases under $50,000, from $50,000 to $150,000, or over $150,000. Other buyers post $7,500, $12,500 or $20,000 on the same bands, measured on the previous year’s volume. Buying more than your estimated volume without raising the security leads to license revocation. It is not insurance for the buyer — if the Tribe recovers stumpage or a bounced payment from the surety, you repay the surety.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
Term and renewal are set in the underwriter's quote.
Keep the bond in force for as long as the obligation behind it runs.
How to file it
Sign & file with PGST. Once you accept the quote, the executed bond naming the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe as obligee arrives by email, ready to send with your signed Buyers Agreement packet to the Natural Resources Department in Kingston.
What sets the price
This bond is underwritten: the premium is quoted from the bond amount and your financial picture, so there is no flat price to show.
One application, one underwriting review.
These are the actual underwriting fields — your buyer number, the Agreement date, your license type and the bond amount your tier requires. Submit once and a specialist reviews it and returns a quote, typically within one business day. Free until your bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
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Get bonded before the season opens.
Tell us your volume tier and a specialist sizes, underwrites and quotes the bond — typically within one business day. Free until issued.