festivaloreo.blogg.se - Clam to horse clam to geo duck

Surface abnormalities were observed in wild adult geoducks, but the pathogen or pathogens could not be identified. In 2012, no infectious diseases had been observed attacking cultured juvenile geoducks planted in the wild up to that point. Adult geoducks, which are already buried deep in the substrate, are out of reach of most predators except for sea otters and humans. Crabs, sea stars, predatory gastropods, and flatfishes have been observed to feed on them. Juvenile geoducks are susceptible to attack from predators in their first year when they have not yet burrowed deeply into the substrate. This estimate is used to predict the two percent allowed for commercial harvesting. īiomass densities in Southeast Alaska are estimated by divers then inflated by twenty percent to account for geoducks not visible at the time of survey. A fifth species, Panopea japonica, the Japanese geoduck, is found in Korea and Japan, but there is no viable commercial industry in those countries for this species. Panopea globosa, which is another species in the same genus, Panopea, is harvested in Mexico's Gulf of California.Ī small wild geoduck fishery exists in New Zealand for Panopea zelandica, the "deepwater clam", and in Argentina for Panopea abbreviata, the "southern geoduck". Panopea generosa is the geoduck species that is found in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. The plan is to plant them in subtidal areas in order to supplement wild geoduck harvest. In New Zealand, Cawthron recently reported successful attempts at rearing juvenile geoducks. No geoduck aquaculture industry exists in Southern Alaska and Mexico. licensed UHA to operate the first commercial geoduck farm on 25.3 hectares (63 acres) off Hernando Island. In 2007, the provincial government of B.C. and UHA, five pilot sites were selected in 1996 to study the feasibility of a geoduck aquaculture venture. Through a collaboration agreement between the provincial government's Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), Fan Seafoods Ltd.

It even invented a mechanical seeder that plants cultured juvenile geoducks on subtidal beds. The UHA used this method to initiate a wild geoduck enhancement program by seeding depleted subtidal areas with cultivated juvenile geoducks thereby ensuring continued supply in the wild. In the early 1990s, the cultivation method developed in Washington was adopted in British Columbia by Fan Seafoods Ltd and the Underwater Harvesters Association (UHA), a group of 55 licence holders for geoduck and horse clam fishery. Ĭommercial harvesting of wild geoducks began in 1976. Commercial geoduck aquaculture has been primarily undertaken within the intertidal zone. As of 2011, there were 237 commercial sites operating on 145 hectares (360 acres) of privately owned properties (including those leased from other private owners). By 1996, commercial aquaculture had begun. In 1991, the development of hatchery and grow-out methods from brood stock were initiated.

Research into the viability of farming geoducks began in the 1970s. Wild geoducks had been harvested in Puget Sound, Washington by residents and visitors for hundreds of years, but it was not until 1970 that the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) auctioned off the first right to commercially harvest wild geoducks.

2 Geoduck species and their distribution.

Geoduck meat is a prized delicacy in Asian cuisine the majority of exports are sent to China ( Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, are the main Chinese markets), Hong Kong and Japan. Most geoducks are harvested from the wild, but because of state government-instituted limits on the amount that can be harvested, the need to grow geoducks in farms to meet an increasing demand has led to the growth of the geoduck aquaculture industry, particularly in Puget Sound, Washington. They are native to the Pacific region and are found from Baja California, through the Pacific Northwest and Southern Alaska. Juvenile geoducks are planted or seeded on the ocean floor or substrate within the soft intertidal and subtidal zones, then harvested five to seven years later when they have reached marketable size (about 1 kg or 2.2 lbs). The geoduck is a large edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk, that is native to the Pacific Northwest. Geoduck aquaculture or geoduck farming is the practice of cultivating geoducks (specifically the Pacific geoduck, Panopea generosa) for human consumption.

Geoducks on display as seafood in a Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong