Shellfish
This indicator describes opening and closure status and trends in commercial shellfish areas in Puget Sound, and trends in direct-harvest closures in Georgia Basin. The indicator also describes the implications of shellfish area closures for the economy, human health and community traditions throughout the Puget Sound Georgia Basin.

	The number of growing areas closed to shellfish harvesting is rising. Read more…
	Closures are generally caused by urbanization and polluted runoff, sewage, marina and boater discharges, and animal waste runoff. Read more…
	Closures of shellfish beds are tragic from historical, ecological, economic, community, gastronomic and trade perspectives. Read more…
	Protecting shellfish as a culture, a community investment and an economic sector is a joy and responsibility that belongs to all of us. Read more…

Introduction to the Shellfish Indicator

This indicator describes opening and closure status and trends in commercial shellfish areas in Puget Sound, and trends in direct-harvest closures in Georgia Basin. The indicator also describes the implications of shellfish area closures for the economy, human health and community traditions throughout the Puget Sound Georgia Basin. This indicator also specifically addresses the classification trends in areas where clams, oysters, mussels and other bivalve molluscan shellfish are grown and harvested.

Pacific, Kumamoto, Tasmanian, Eastern, European Flat, Manila, butter, littleneck, razor and geoduck clams. Blue and Mediterranean mussels.

There is nary a person who is unfamiliar with shellfish, expressing anything from strong interest to slight revulsion. "He was a bold man that first ate an oyster," opined Jonathan Swift.

Shellfish are one of the oldest stories in the world. In fact, they are good, old news. It is reputed the Romans indulged in oyster delights 2000 years ago, although others report the Britons were slurping them in 58 BC. We pay honor to the Japanese who are credited with the first shellfish aquaculture techniques.

In the Pacific Northwest, shellfish are indelibly linked to our heritage, particularly those of First Nations and other U.S. Tribes which have harvested shellfish for 12,000 years. In addition, they are an economic mainstay of our rural communities.

The Pacific Northwest leads North America in farmed bivalve shellfish production.¹ Broader categories of shellfish include a vast array of culinary options divided into several categories:

• Mollusks, such as the familiar clam and oysters (bivalves, and the focus of this indicator); abalone and snail (mopods, or univalves); and octopus and squid (cephalopods); and
• Crustaceans, such as crabs, crayfish, lobster and shrimp.

Filter or Suspension Feeders: Bivalves are filter or suspension feeders, eating plankton, their primary food source, by filtering large amounts of water through their gills. Particulate food caught on the surface of the gills is transported to the digestive tract.² This filtering process makes them particularly susceptible to contamination from pollutants that may be present in the growing environment such as bacteria, viruses and toxics. They can concentrate bacteria and viruses that pose a threat to human health by the nature of their feeding.

The condition of the shoreline environment, the very place people gravitate to, directly affects the water quality shellfish grow in. Most of the Puget Sound Georgia Basin population is concentrated along the shoreline and associated watersheds (see the River, Stream and Lake Quality Indicator for a discussion about watersheds).

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