Geoduck
Encyclopedia
The geoduck Panopea generosa, is a species
of very large saltwater
clam
, a marine
bivalve mollusk in the family Hiatellidae
.
The shell of this clam is large, about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) to over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length, but the very long siphons make the clam itself very much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be 1 metres (3.3 ft) in length.
(Nisqually
) word meaning "dig deep", and its phonemically counterintuitive spelling is likely the result of poor transcription
rather than anything having to do with ducks. Alternate spellings include gweduc, gweduck, goeduck, and goiduck. It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam, or when translated literally
from the Chinese characters 象拔蚌 (Pinyin
: xiàngbábàng, Yale: jeuhngbahtpóhng), the elephant-trunk clam.
Between 1983 and 2010, the scientific name of this clam was confused with an extinct clam, Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849), in the scientific literature.
and Canada
(primarily Washington and British Columbia
), the geoduck is the largest burrowing clam in the world, weighing in at an average of one to three pounds (0.5–1.5 kg) at maturity, but specimen
s weighing over 15 pounds (7.5 kg) and as much as 2 meters (over 6.5 ft) in length are not unheard of.
A related species, Panopea zelandica
, is found in New Zealand and has been harvested commercially since 1989. The largest quantities have come from Golden Bay in the South Island where 100 tonnes were harvested in one year.
There is a growing concern over the increase of parasites in the Puget Sound population of geoduck. Whether these microsporidium-like parasitic species were introduced by commercial farming is being studied by Sea Grant. Research to date does indicate their presence, with these parasites passed directly to Chinese who consume raw geoduck. Their long term effect on the human body is unknown at this time.
Geoducks are one of the longest-living organisms in the Animal Kingdom. The oldest recorded specimen was 168 years old, but individuals over 100 years old are rare. Scientists speculate that the geoduck's longevity
is the result of low wear and tear. A geoduck sucks water containing plankton
down through its long siphon, filters this for food and ejects its refuse out through a separate hole in the siphon. Adult geoducks have few natural predators, which may also contribute to their longevity. In Alaska
, sea otter
s and dogfish
have proved capable of dislodging geoducks; starfish also attack and feed on the exposed geoduck siphon.
Geoducks are broadcast spawners. A female geoduck produces about 5 billion eggs in her century-long lifespan—in comparison, a human female
produces about 500 viable ova
during the course of her life. However, due to a low rate of recruitment and a high rate of mortality for geoduck eggs, larvae and post-settled juveniles, populations are slow to rebound. In the Puget Sound, studies indicate that the recovery time for a harvested tract is 39 years.
for up to US$168/lb (US$370/kg)
Its large, meaty siphon is prized for its savory
flavor and crunchy texture. Geoduck is incorrectly regarded by some as an aphrodisiac
due to its phallic shape. It is very popular in China
, where it is considered a delicacy, mostly eaten cooked in a fondue-style Chinese hot pot. In Korean cuisine, geoducks are eaten raw with spicy chili sauce, sautéed, or in soups and stews. In Japan geoduck is prepared as raw sashimi
, dipped in soy sauce
and wasabi
. On Japanese menus
, geoduck is called mirugai or mirukuigai and is considered to have a texture similar to an ark shell (known in Japanese as akagai). It is worth noticing that although mirugai is sometimes translated to English as "giant clam", it is distinguished from himejako sushi made from tridacna gigas
.
The geoduck's high market value has created an $80 million U.S. industry, with harvesting occurring in both Washington state and the province of British Columbia
. It is one of the most closely regulated fisheries in both countries; in Washington, Department of Natural Resources
staff are on the water continually monitoring harvests in order to assure revenues are received, and the same is true in Canada where the Underwater Harvesters' Association manages the Canadian Fishery in conjunction with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Washington State Department of Health tests water and flesh in order to assure clams are not filtering and holding pollutants, an ongoing problem.
As of the 2007 season, advances in the testing system for contaminated clams have allowed geoduck harvesters to deliver live clams more consistently. The new testing system determines the viability of clams from tested beds before the harvesters fish the area. Previous methods tested clams after harvest. This advancement has meant that 90 percent of clams were delivered live to market in 2007. In 2001 only 10 percent were live. Because geoduck have a much higher market value live—an additional $2 to $3 per pound—this development has helped to stimulate the burgeoning industry.
industry. Geoduck aquaculture on private tidelands in Puget Sound
, particularly in South Puget Sound, has been steadily growing over the last ten years, averaging about 10 new acre
s of cultivation per year. Currently less than 0.001% of Puget Sound is dedicated to geoduck farming. Geoduck farms use "predator exclusion devices" in which to plant the seed geoducks. These devices are PVC
pipe
s 10 to 14 inches (355.6 mm) long, four to six inches (152 mm) in diameter, pushed into the tideland sediment. There are approximately 20,000 to 43,500 of these PVC pipes planted per acre on tidelands. These nursery tubes typically stay in the beach for the first year or two of a crop cycle.
The Environmental Defense Fund has done extensive studies of aquaculture and has found that bivalves (oysters, mussels, and clams), are beneficial to the marine environment.
Rebecca Goldburg has noted she did not specifically study geoducks.
The water must be certifiably clean in order to plant geoducks commercially. This is a requirement of the Washington State Department of Health Office of Shellfish and Water Protection and of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Council.
Geoduck farming grow-out and harvest practices are highly controversial. These practices have created serious conflicts with shoreline property owners; concerns from nongovernmental organization (NGO's) (e.g., Tacoma Audubon and Sierra Club); and others simply interested in the health of Puget Sound. The shoreline development groups have expressed concerns including lack of regulation, aesthetics, effects on native geoduck populations, impacts on wildlife, farm debris, intensive farming/harvest techniques, agricultural densities of geoducks, carrying capacity of low-flushing inlets, near-shore habitat destruction, over enrichment of sediments from intensive shellfish bio deposits and the permanent conversion of natural ecosystems to intensive commercial agricultural use on the tidelands of Puget Sound. Shoreline developers are particularly concerned because they see shellfish farming as an impediment to continued bulkheading, upland deforestation and septic tank installation. The main objectives of the newly created Puget Sound Partnership include habitat preservation, habitat restoration, preservation of biodiversity and recovery of imperiled species (salmon).
As mandated by 2007 legislation, the Washington State Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee stakeholder group, including industry, agency and citizen representatives has convened to discuss regulation of this industry. Counties such as Pierce County have also begun to develop regulations covering tideland impacts from geoduck farming, something against which Taylor Shellfish has filed a suit.
Although some marine shoreline owners take issue with the visual impacts, a more important concern is their impact on the marine environment. While the tubes are actually only visible 2 to 3% of daylight hours over a six-year crop cycle, this also means they are leaching contaminants into the waters of Puget Sound. Additional concerns over the use of PVC tubes is their "escaping" from the farms and ending up in subtidal areas, uncollected. Attempts to have industry mark tubes which identify the grower have been met with strong resistance.
However, since the lowest tides in the summer are during mid-day, the visual and recreational impact of the tubes is greatest at the very time when the people of Puget Sound are likely to be using the beach. During summer, a citizen group shows that the average percentage of time during daylight hours that the farms are visible is 19% per day and the number of days from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day that farms are visible some portion of the day is 76%. This is calculated for geoducks planted to a +2 tidal level in Thurston County, Washington, one of the counties of South Puget Sound where the geoduck farms are clustered without any environmental siting criteria, public comment or environmental review. When calculated for a +3 tidal elevation (where geoduck are never farmed), the amount of visibility rises to an average per day of 23% of daylight hours and 87% of the days of the summer.
Impacts on tideland include placing as many as 44,000 PVC pipes per acre on privately held tidelands; removal of this "artificial reef" one to three years later; then harvest after five to six years. While these practices may have short-term impacts to the tidelands, these impacts are not nearly as great as the documented impacts from upland residential development including bulkheading of the shoreline (disrupting the natural beach creation process), deforestation of the upland (creating increased storm water run-off) and placing of septic systems in the shoreline habitat (creating nitrogen loading of the coastal waters). Fortunately, these upland impacts are readily dealt with through enforcement of existing regulations. Unfortunately, there are no meaningful regulations controlling geoduck farming and whatever the tideland impacts may be, whether short-term or long-term.
A January 2008 Washington Sea Grant paper, commissioned by the state of Washington to determine what studies existed on Geoduck aquaculture, found virtually no peer-reviewed research existed. Some take this lack of research as proof there is no known cumulative or substantive [sic] impacts from geoduck farming. Fortunately, studies have been funded to determine what the short and long term environmental impacts are; what the short and long term genetic impacts to the wild populations are; and, what the effects of geoduck aquaculture on soft-sediment tideflat and eelgrass meadow habitats is. When they are complete a clear picture of what impacts have occurred will be known.
Some claim farm densities of geoducks are similar to unharvested natural beds in the wild, pointing to two or three of the highest samples of hundreds taken. Not considered is that subtidal population densities are not comparable to intertidal densities. Some speculate the intertidal natural densities are lower due to 40 years of harvest without replanting [sic], perhaps resulting in most of the natural beds having been depleted. However, without ever knowing the original population densities, this is only speculation. What is factual is that the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Commercial Geoduck Tract typically finds wild densities far below the farmed densities of ~2 geoducks per square foot, with typical average densities of only .3/square foot or less.
Some also speculate that the effects on native geoduck populations (outside of the harvested area) from geoduck farming is minimal to nonexistent. Washington Sea Grant has noted no research on this exists. They have commissioned a study to look at this specific risk to the wild population.
Each year new hatchery brood stock is taken from the wild stock. Farmed animals are not used as brood stock so genetically, farmed geoduck are the same as wild stocks. Moreover, wild geoduck occupy the intertidal zone down to 300 feet (91.4 m) below sea level. DNR and the tribes comanage the wild fishery
and only harvest geoduck between the -18 to -70 foot depths. The annual leased harvest of the wild geoduck population by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Geoduck Fisheries Program is about 4 million pounds a year.
Wildlife interactions are a concern and geoduck growers are adapting growing techniques to minimize these effects. A 2004 draft biological assessment, commissioned by three of the largest commercial shellfish companies in the Puget Sound region, examined the impacts of geoduck farming and identified no long term effects on threatened or endangered species.
Farm debris includes displaced net tops, rubber bands, and PVC tubes. The net tops used on the nursery pipes can come off and float away onto other beaches as debris and the rubber bands also can become debris in Puget Sound. To offset these environmental impacts most geoduck farmers have embraced environmental codes of practice including regular maintenance and debris clean-up of their own farms. In addition, the industry now does two annual beach cleanups to collect marine debris from all beaches in areas where they farm. Although as much as 20% of the debris collected in each cleanup has been aquaculture related, less than 5% of the 120 cubic yards (91.7 m³) collected to date has been related to geoduck farming. Unfortunately, because of the currents in Puget Sound, nets and tubing can be found far from any poorly maintained geoduck operations. This lack of control over loose gear remains a significant enough problem that bonding requirements are being considered as part of regulations being developed.
Harvesting takes place every four to six years. Water pressure hoses using up to 50 gallons of water per minute are used to extract the geoducks buried under two to three feet of sediment depth. There are no environmental impact studies related to intertidal harvest of geoduck as of August 2006, although the subtidal environmental impact studies done for the fisheries in BC and WA have found no detrimental effects in harvesting the clams. Geoduck farming is only conducted in clean, uncontaminated sediments so concern is limited to short-term increases in turbidity and short term effect on benthic organisms. The Department of Natural Resources of Washington State conducted the environmental impact study. DNR is itself in the business of leasing subtidal lands for commercial geoduck harvest and starting this year, intertidal lands for commercial geoduck farming.
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Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of very large saltwater
Seawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
, a marine
Marine (ocean)
Marine is an umbrella term. As an adjective it is usually applicable to things relating to the sea or ocean, such as marine biology, marine ecology and marine geology...
bivalve mollusk in the family Hiatellidae
Hiatellidae
Hiatellidae is a family of bivalve molluscs in the order Myoida. It contains five genera.-Genera:* Cyrtodaria Reuss, 1801 * Hiatella Bosc, 1801** Hiatella arctica * Panomya Gray, 1857 * Panopea Menard, 1807...
.
The shell of this clam is large, about 15 centimetres (5.9 in) to over 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in length, but the very long siphons make the clam itself very much longer than this: the "neck" or siphons alone can be 1 metres (3.3 ft) in length.
Etymology
The unusual name of the clam is derived from a LushootseedLushootseed
Lushootseed is the language or dialect continuum of several SalishNative American groups of modern-day Washington state...
(Nisqually
Nisqually (tribe)
Nisqually is a Lushootseed Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States. The tribe lives on a reservation in the Nisqually River valley near the river delta. The Nisqually Indian Reservation, at , comprises 20.602 km² of land area on both sides of the river, in...
) word meaning "dig deep", and its phonemically counterintuitive spelling is likely the result of poor transcription
Transcription (linguistics)
Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system, although some linguists only consider the former as transcription.Transcription should not be confused with...
rather than anything having to do with ducks. Alternate spellings include gweduc, gweduck, goeduck, and goiduck. It is sometimes known as the mud duck, king clam, or when translated literally
Calque
In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation.-Calque:...
from the Chinese characters 象拔蚌 (Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: xiàngbábàng, Yale: jeuhngbahtpóhng), the elephant-trunk clam.
Between 1983 and 2010, the scientific name of this clam was confused with an extinct clam, Panopea abrupta (Conrad, 1849), in the scientific literature.
Biology
Native to the northwest coast of the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
(primarily Washington and British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
), the geoduck is the largest burrowing clam in the world, weighing in at an average of one to three pounds (0.5–1.5 kg) at maturity, but specimen
Specimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
s weighing over 15 pounds (7.5 kg) and as much as 2 meters (over 6.5 ft) in length are not unheard of.
A related species, Panopea zelandica
Panopea zelandica
Panopea zelandica, commonly known as the Deepwater Clam or New Zealand geoduc , is a large species of marine bivalve mollusc in the family Hiatellidae...
, is found in New Zealand and has been harvested commercially since 1989. The largest quantities have come from Golden Bay in the South Island where 100 tonnes were harvested in one year.
There is a growing concern over the increase of parasites in the Puget Sound population of geoduck. Whether these microsporidium-like parasitic species were introduced by commercial farming is being studied by Sea Grant. Research to date does indicate their presence, with these parasites passed directly to Chinese who consume raw geoduck. Their long term effect on the human body is unknown at this time.
Geoducks are one of the longest-living organisms in the Animal Kingdom. The oldest recorded specimen was 168 years old, but individuals over 100 years old are rare. Scientists speculate that the geoduck's longevity
Longevity
The word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography or known as "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected ....
is the result of low wear and tear. A geoduck sucks water containing plankton
Plankton
Plankton are any drifting organisms that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. That is, plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification...
down through its long siphon, filters this for food and ejects its refuse out through a separate hole in the siphon. Adult geoducks have few natural predators, which may also contribute to their longevity. In Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s and dogfish
Squaliformes
Squaliformes is an order of sharks that includes about 97 species in seven families.Members of the order have two dorsal fins, which usually possess spines, no anal fin or nictitating membrane, and five gill slits. In most other respects, however, they are quite variable in form and size...
have proved capable of dislodging geoducks; starfish also attack and feed on the exposed geoduck siphon.
Geoducks are broadcast spawners. A female geoduck produces about 5 billion eggs in her century-long lifespan—in comparison, a human female
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
produces about 500 viable ova
Ovum
An ovum is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. Both animals and embryophytes have ova. The term ovule is used for the young ovum of an animal, as well as the plant structure that carries the female gametophyte and egg cell and develops into a seed after fertilization...
during the course of her life. However, due to a low rate of recruitment and a high rate of mortality for geoduck eggs, larvae and post-settled juveniles, populations are slow to rebound. In the Puget Sound, studies indicate that the recovery time for a harvested tract is 39 years.
Geoduck industry
The world's first geoduck fishery was created in 1970, but demand for the half-forgotten clam was low due to its texture. Today, they sell in AsiaAsia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
for up to US$168/lb (US$370/kg)
Its large, meaty siphon is prized for its savory
Umami
Umami , popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.-Etymology:Umami is a loanword from the Japanese meaning "pleasant savory taste". This particular writing was chosen by Professor Kikunae Ikeda from umai "delicious" and mi ...
flavor and crunchy texture. Geoduck is incorrectly regarded by some as an aphrodisiac
Aphrodisiac
An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable...
due to its phallic shape. It is very popular in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where it is considered a delicacy, mostly eaten cooked in a fondue-style Chinese hot pot. In Korean cuisine, geoducks are eaten raw with spicy chili sauce, sautéed, or in soups and stews. In Japan geoduck is prepared as raw sashimi
Sashimi
Sashimi is a Japanese delicacy. It consists of very fresh raw meat, most commonly fish, sliced into thin pieces.-Origin:The word sashimi means "pierced body", i.e...
, dipped in soy sauce
Soy sauce
Soy sauce is a condiment produced by fermenting soybeans with Aspergillus oryzae or Aspergillus sojae molds, along with water and salt...
and wasabi
Wasabi
, also known as Japanese horseradish, is a member of the Brassicaceae family, which includes cabbages, horseradish, and mustard. Its root is used as a condiment and has an extremely strong flavor. Its hotness is more akin to that of a hot mustard rather than the capsaicin in a chili pepper,...
. On Japanese menus
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
, geoduck is called mirugai or mirukuigai and is considered to have a texture similar to an ark shell (known in Japanese as akagai). It is worth noticing that although mirugai is sometimes translated to English as "giant clam", it is distinguished from himejako sushi made from tridacna gigas
Giant clam
The giant clam, Tridacna gigas , is the largest living bivalve mollusc. T. gigas is one of the most endangered clam species. It was mentioned as early as 1825 in scientific reports...
.
The geoduck's high market value has created an $80 million U.S. industry, with harvesting occurring in both Washington state and the province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. It is one of the most closely regulated fisheries in both countries; in Washington, Department of Natural Resources
Washington Department of Natural Resources
The Washington Department of Natural Resources manage over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands for the people of Washington State. DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands under Puget Sound and the coast, and navigable lakes and rivers...
staff are on the water continually monitoring harvests in order to assure revenues are received, and the same is true in Canada where the Underwater Harvesters' Association manages the Canadian Fishery in conjunction with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Washington State Department of Health tests water and flesh in order to assure clams are not filtering and holding pollutants, an ongoing problem.
As of the 2007 season, advances in the testing system for contaminated clams have allowed geoduck harvesters to deliver live clams more consistently. The new testing system determines the viability of clams from tested beds before the harvesters fish the area. Previous methods tested clams after harvest. This advancement has meant that 90 percent of clams were delivered live to market in 2007. In 2001 only 10 percent were live. Because geoduck have a much higher market value live—an additional $2 to $3 per pound—this development has helped to stimulate the burgeoning industry.
Environmental impact
Investigation of environmental impacts is just now beginning to occur. Demand has also led to a rapidly developing aquacultureAquaculture
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the farming of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater and saltwater populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
industry. Geoduck aquaculture on private tidelands in Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
, particularly in South Puget Sound, has been steadily growing over the last ten years, averaging about 10 new acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s of cultivation per year. Currently less than 0.001% of Puget Sound is dedicated to geoduck farming. Geoduck farms use "predator exclusion devices" in which to plant the seed geoducks. These devices are PVC
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
pipe
Pipe (material)
A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
s 10 to 14 inches (355.6 mm) long, four to six inches (152 mm) in diameter, pushed into the tideland sediment. There are approximately 20,000 to 43,500 of these PVC pipes planted per acre on tidelands. These nursery tubes typically stay in the beach for the first year or two of a crop cycle.
The Environmental Defense Fund has done extensive studies of aquaculture and has found that bivalves (oysters, mussels, and clams), are beneficial to the marine environment.
Rebecca Goldburg has noted she did not specifically study geoducks.
The water must be certifiably clean in order to plant geoducks commercially. This is a requirement of the Washington State Department of Health Office of Shellfish and Water Protection and of the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Council.
Geoduck farming grow-out and harvest practices are highly controversial. These practices have created serious conflicts with shoreline property owners; concerns from nongovernmental organization (NGO's) (e.g., Tacoma Audubon and Sierra Club); and others simply interested in the health of Puget Sound. The shoreline development groups have expressed concerns including lack of regulation, aesthetics, effects on native geoduck populations, impacts on wildlife, farm debris, intensive farming/harvest techniques, agricultural densities of geoducks, carrying capacity of low-flushing inlets, near-shore habitat destruction, over enrichment of sediments from intensive shellfish bio deposits and the permanent conversion of natural ecosystems to intensive commercial agricultural use on the tidelands of Puget Sound. Shoreline developers are particularly concerned because they see shellfish farming as an impediment to continued bulkheading, upland deforestation and septic tank installation. The main objectives of the newly created Puget Sound Partnership include habitat preservation, habitat restoration, preservation of biodiversity and recovery of imperiled species (salmon).
As mandated by 2007 legislation, the Washington State Shellfish Aquaculture Regulatory Committee stakeholder group, including industry, agency and citizen representatives has convened to discuss regulation of this industry. Counties such as Pierce County have also begun to develop regulations covering tideland impacts from geoduck farming, something against which Taylor Shellfish has filed a suit.
Although some marine shoreline owners take issue with the visual impacts, a more important concern is their impact on the marine environment. While the tubes are actually only visible 2 to 3% of daylight hours over a six-year crop cycle, this also means they are leaching contaminants into the waters of Puget Sound. Additional concerns over the use of PVC tubes is their "escaping" from the farms and ending up in subtidal areas, uncollected. Attempts to have industry mark tubes which identify the grower have been met with strong resistance.
However, since the lowest tides in the summer are during mid-day, the visual and recreational impact of the tubes is greatest at the very time when the people of Puget Sound are likely to be using the beach. During summer, a citizen group shows that the average percentage of time during daylight hours that the farms are visible is 19% per day and the number of days from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day that farms are visible some portion of the day is 76%. This is calculated for geoducks planted to a +2 tidal level in Thurston County, Washington, one of the counties of South Puget Sound where the geoduck farms are clustered without any environmental siting criteria, public comment or environmental review. When calculated for a +3 tidal elevation (where geoduck are never farmed), the amount of visibility rises to an average per day of 23% of daylight hours and 87% of the days of the summer.
Impacts on tideland include placing as many as 44,000 PVC pipes per acre on privately held tidelands; removal of this "artificial reef" one to three years later; then harvest after five to six years. While these practices may have short-term impacts to the tidelands, these impacts are not nearly as great as the documented impacts from upland residential development including bulkheading of the shoreline (disrupting the natural beach creation process), deforestation of the upland (creating increased storm water run-off) and placing of septic systems in the shoreline habitat (creating nitrogen loading of the coastal waters). Fortunately, these upland impacts are readily dealt with through enforcement of existing regulations. Unfortunately, there are no meaningful regulations controlling geoduck farming and whatever the tideland impacts may be, whether short-term or long-term.
A January 2008 Washington Sea Grant paper, commissioned by the state of Washington to determine what studies existed on Geoduck aquaculture, found virtually no peer-reviewed research existed. Some take this lack of research as proof there is no known cumulative or substantive [sic] impacts from geoduck farming. Fortunately, studies have been funded to determine what the short and long term environmental impacts are; what the short and long term genetic impacts to the wild populations are; and, what the effects of geoduck aquaculture on soft-sediment tideflat and eelgrass meadow habitats is. When they are complete a clear picture of what impacts have occurred will be known.
Some claim farm densities of geoducks are similar to unharvested natural beds in the wild, pointing to two or three of the highest samples of hundreds taken. Not considered is that subtidal population densities are not comparable to intertidal densities. Some speculate the intertidal natural densities are lower due to 40 years of harvest without replanting [sic], perhaps resulting in most of the natural beds having been depleted. However, without ever knowing the original population densities, this is only speculation. What is factual is that the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Commercial Geoduck Tract typically finds wild densities far below the farmed densities of ~2 geoducks per square foot, with typical average densities of only .3/square foot or less.
Some also speculate that the effects on native geoduck populations (outside of the harvested area) from geoduck farming is minimal to nonexistent. Washington Sea Grant has noted no research on this exists. They have commissioned a study to look at this specific risk to the wild population.
Each year new hatchery brood stock is taken from the wild stock. Farmed animals are not used as brood stock so genetically, farmed geoduck are the same as wild stocks. Moreover, wild geoduck occupy the intertidal zone down to 300 feet (91.4 m) below sea level. DNR and the tribes comanage the wild fishery
Wild fisheries of the world
A fishery is an area with an associated fish or aquatic population which is harvested for its commercial value. Fisheries can be marine or freshwater. They can also be wild or farmed. This article is an overview of the habitats occupied by the worlds' wild fisheries, and the human impacts on those...
and only harvest geoduck between the -18 to -70 foot depths. The annual leased harvest of the wild geoduck population by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources Geoduck Fisheries Program is about 4 million pounds a year.
Wildlife interactions are a concern and geoduck growers are adapting growing techniques to minimize these effects. A 2004 draft biological assessment, commissioned by three of the largest commercial shellfish companies in the Puget Sound region, examined the impacts of geoduck farming and identified no long term effects on threatened or endangered species.
Farm debris includes displaced net tops, rubber bands, and PVC tubes. The net tops used on the nursery pipes can come off and float away onto other beaches as debris and the rubber bands also can become debris in Puget Sound. To offset these environmental impacts most geoduck farmers have embraced environmental codes of practice including regular maintenance and debris clean-up of their own farms. In addition, the industry now does two annual beach cleanups to collect marine debris from all beaches in areas where they farm. Although as much as 20% of the debris collected in each cleanup has been aquaculture related, less than 5% of the 120 cubic yards (91.7 m³) collected to date has been related to geoduck farming. Unfortunately, because of the currents in Puget Sound, nets and tubing can be found far from any poorly maintained geoduck operations. This lack of control over loose gear remains a significant enough problem that bonding requirements are being considered as part of regulations being developed.
Harvesting takes place every four to six years. Water pressure hoses using up to 50 gallons of water per minute are used to extract the geoducks buried under two to three feet of sediment depth. There are no environmental impact studies related to intertidal harvest of geoduck as of August 2006, although the subtidal environmental impact studies done for the fisheries in BC and WA have found no detrimental effects in harvesting the clams. Geoduck farming is only conducted in clean, uncontaminated sediments so concern is limited to short-term increases in turbidity and short term effect on benthic organisms. The Department of Natural Resources of Washington State conducted the environmental impact study. DNR is itself in the business of leasing subtidal lands for commercial geoduck harvest and starting this year, intertidal lands for commercial geoduck farming.
In popular culture
Literature- Author Betty MacDonaldBetty MacDonaldBetty MacDonald was an American author who specialized in humorous autobiographical tales, and is best known for her book The Egg and I. She also wrote the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series of children's books...
describes digging out geoducks on the beach near her home on Vashon islandVashon IslandVashon is a census-designated place in King County, Washington, United States. It covers an island alternately called Vashon Island or Vashon-Maury Island, the largest island in Puget Sound south of Admiralty Inlet. The population was 10,624 at the 2010 census. At , it is about 60 percent larger...
in her books The Egg and IThe Egg and IThe Egg and I, first published in 1945, is a humorous memoir by American author Betty MacDonald about her adventures and travels as a young wife on a chicken farm on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state...
and Onions in the StewOnions in the StewOnions in the Stew is the fourth in a series of humorous autobiographical books by Betty MacDonald about her life on Vashon Island with her second husband and daughters during the Second World War years...
, and includes her recipe for cooking them. - In the novel Snow Falling on CedarsSnow Falling on CedarsSnow Falling on Cedars is a 1994 novel written by American writer David Guterson. Guterson, who was a teacher at the time, wrote the book in the early morning hours over a ten-year period...
by David Guterson, published in 1995, young Ishmael and Hatsue dig for geoducks on the beach together. - Craig Welch has written a non-fiction account of the hidden world of geoduck poaching in his book "Shell Games: Rogues, smugglers, and the Hunt for Nature's Bounty".
Music
- Harpmaker-storyteller Ron Konzak of Washington State with Judy and Jerry Elfendahl produced the Gooeyduck song which was released as 45 single through Acme Music in the 1970s with a Japanese version on the flip side. It is still a favorite "campfire" song for children.
Films
- In the Disney/Pixar animated film RatatouilleRatatouille (film)Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the eighth film produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005...
, a recipe, "Sweetbread à la Gusteau", which includes geoduck eggs is prepared and served. - Writer/director James Gunn has said that the geoduck was an inspiration for the slug-like alien parasites in his 2006 horror/comedy Slither.
- A documentary about geoducks, 3 Feet Under: Digging Deep for the Geoduck Clam, won the best documentary award at the Thunderbird International Film Festival.
- Geoduck was the name of a native American character in the Ma and Pa Kettle movies of the 1950s.
Television
- A geoduck farm was featured on the American Discovery ChannelDiscovery ChannelDiscovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
television show Dirty JobsDirty JobsDirty Jobs is a program on the Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television, in which host Mike Rowe is shown performing difficult, strange, disgusting, or messy occupational duties alongside the typical employees. The show premiered with two pilot episodes in November 2003...
with Mike Rowe, on July 18, 2006. - Geoduck was used as part of an exotic protein challenge on the first episode of Top ChefTop Chef (season 3)Top Chef: Miami is the third season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Miami, Florida, and concluded in Aspen, Colorado. The season premiered on Bravo on June 13, 2007 and ended on October 10, 2007. Padma Lakshmi returned with Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and new...
season 3 and episode six of Top Chef MastersTop Chef: Masters (season 2)The second season of the American reality competition show Top Chef Masters was announced on October 22, 2009. In addition to the announcement, it was announced that Gail Simmons would be added as a critic. The season premiered on April 7, 2010 with 22 world-renowned chefs competing against each...
season 2. - Geoduck was featured on Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations on the Travel ChannelTravel ChannelThe Travel Channel is a satellite and cable television channel that is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, US. It features documentaries and how-to shows related to travel and leisure around the United States and throughout the world. Programming has included shows in African animal safaris,...
in the "Pacific Northwest" episode. In it Anthony Bourdain, the host, helps catch geoducks and is then treated to an impromptu meal of geoduck on the beach. - Used by Challenger Cosentino in Iron Chef AmericaIron Chef AmericaIron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carried a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the...
"Symon vs. Cosentino" (season 7, episode 4). - In a 2009 episode of Will Work for FoodWill Work for Food (TV show)Will Work For Food is a Food Network show starring Adam Gertler, one of three finalists of the fourth season of The Next Food Network Star. The show premiered on Monday, January 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM EDT...
celebrity chef Adam GertlerAdam GertlerAdam Gertler is an American cook, TV personality, and actor. As a contestant on season four of The Next Food Network Star, Adam Gertler was the runner-up....
helped harvest, weigh, and prepare geoducks. - Geoduck was used in a salad on the show Dinner: ImpossibleDinner: ImpossibleDinner: Impossible is an American television program broadcast by the Food Network. The first episode aired on January 24, 2007. Food Network began airing the eighth season on March 3, 2010....
where host Robert IrvineRobert IrvineRobert Irvine is a celebrity chef who has appeared on a variety of Food Network programs, including Dinner: Impossible, Worst Cooks in America, and Restaurant: Impossible.-Career:Irvine began his cooking career upon enlisting in the Royal Navy at the age of fifteen...
cooked for the Winter X Games. - Jeff Corwin, host of "Extreme Cuisine with Jeff Corwin," shows geoducks in their native habitat in Pacific Northwest Episode on Food Network Channel.
- Geoducks were frequently referenced on Seattle-based sketch comedy series Almost Live!Almost Live!Almost Live! was a local sketch comedy television show in Seattle, Washington, USA, produced and broadcast by NBC affiliate KING-TV from 1984 to 1999. A re-packaged version of the show also aired on Comedy Central from 1992 to 1993, and episodes aired on WGRZ-TV in the late 1990s. The show was...
- On the show ChoppedChopped (TV series)Chopped is a reality based cooking television series created by Michael Krupat, produced by Daniel Kay, and hosted by Ted Allen that pits four chefs against each other competiting for a chance to win $10,000. New episodes air every Tuesday at 10pm EST on Food Network.-Format:In each episode, four...
, geoduck was one of four required ingredients for the first round of the episode which crowned the Chopped Grand Champion. - In the "The Menaissance" episode of Men in TreesMen in TreesMen in Trees is an American romantic television dramedy series which premiered on September 12, 2006 on ABC and starred Anne Heche who played relationship coach Marin Frist. The series was set in the fictional town of Elmo, Alaska and concerned Marin Frist's misadventures in relationships...
(Season 1 episode 9), Jack gives Marin a geoduck shell shaped like a bracelet. She continues wearing it through the following three episodes. - Used in Season 1 of Top Chef Canada during the Quickfire Challenge, when one contestant selected the item, and the contestants were surprised by being asked to use the ingredients of the contestant next to them instead of their own selection. The Chef (Rob) that was forced to use the Geoduck, and hated using it, ended up winning the challenge.
Other
- The geoduck is the official mascotMascotThe term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
of The Evergreen State CollegeThe Evergreen State CollegeThe Evergreen State College is an accredited public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. It is located in Olympia, Washington, USA. Founded in 1967, Evergreen was formed to be an experimental and non-traditional college...
, located at the southernmost tip of Puget SoundPuget SoundPuget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
in OlympiaOlympia, WashingtonOlympia is the capital city of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat of Thurston County. It was incorporated on January 28, 1859. The population was 46,478 at the 2010 census...
, Washington. The schoolCollegeA college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
's LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
mottoMottoA motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
, Omnia Extares (or, "let it all hang out") is at least partially intended as a tongue-in-cheekSarcasmSarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
reference to the creature's phallicPhallusA phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
appearance. - Save the Geoduck Campaign (1987), a media prankCulture jammingCulture jamming, coined in 1984, denotes a tactic used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. Guerrilla semiotics and night discourse are sometimes used synonymously with the term culture jamming.Culture...
by Joey SkaggsJoey SkaggsJoey Skaggs is an American prankster who has organized numerous successful media pranks, hoaxes, and other presentations. He is considered one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming. Skaggs used Kim Yung Soo, Joe Bones, Joseph Bonuso, Giuseppe Scaggioli, Dr. Joseph Gregor,...
who played Dr. Richard J. Long (possibly Dick Long) who sought to save geoduck mollusks from extinction because they had become a popular aphrodisiacAphrodisiacAn aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire. The name comes from Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. Throughout history, many foods, drinks, and behaviors have had a reputation for making sex more attainable and/or pleasurable...
among the Japanese.
External links
- Geoduck facts at Man and Mollusc
- The UHA - BC Seafood Alliance,
- The Evergreen State College's Geoduck Page
- Geoduck Underwater Harvester's Association
- Geoduck clam (Panopea abrupta): Anatomy, Histology, Development, Pathology, Parasites and Symbionts at Fisheries and Oceans Canada
- 3 Feet Under - Digging Deep for the Geoduck Clam "Duckumentary" film Home Page
- Geoduck cooking recipes at Geoduck Recipes