How to Start a Geoduck Business

The geoduck (pronounced "gooey-duck") is the world's largest burrowing clam. The formal name for geoducks is Panopea abrupta, and they are found in the inland waters of the Puget Sound area of Washington state, British Columbia and Alaska. These popular delicacies can be harvested in the wild, but they can also be farmed.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Predator net
• Harvest agreement with Washington State Department of Natural resources
• Patience
• Heavy-duty rubber bands to secure net
• Geoduck seeds
• Sub-tidal beach land that is designated as not polluted
• Four-inch PVC pipe in 1-foot lengths

1. Learn about the geoduck through sources such as the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (see Resources below).
2. Lease, rent or buy sub-tidal beach property as the site of a geoduck farm and obtain a harvest agreement from the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (see Resources below). The beach must be designated as not polluted.
3. Obtain "seeds," which are juvenile forms of the geoduck, from hatcheries such as Taylor Shellfish Farms (see Resources below).
4. Construct a protected growth area by laying down a grid of 4-inch PVC pipe in 1-foot sections. Plant 3 or 4 seeds in each length of pipe and bury them in the sand. Cover the farm bed with a predator net and secure it with high-grade, large-diameter, water-resistant rubber bands affixed to the beach.
5. Remove the PVC pipe after a year.
6. After 3 to 4 years, the grid of geoducks will be ready for commercial harvest.

Tips & Warnings

• Individual commercial geoducks may weigh as much as five pounds and have siphons as long as a meter.
• There is a very short window of time during in which geoducks may be planted. Since this is sub-tidal beach, all work must be done during low tide, so planting and harvesting is a very concentrated effort.