Resilience of Soft-Sediment Communities after Geoduck Harvest in Samish Bay, Washington

Jennifer Ruesink and Micah Horwith, Department of Biology, University of Washington

R/GD-3

Commercial geoduck beds share waters with soft-sediment tideflats and eelgrass meadows — two habitat types that host diverse communities of plants and animals. In 2002, geoducks were planted in a soft-sediment tideflat in Samish Bay to establish a commercial shellfish bed. Since then, eelgrass has colonized the bed. The 2008 harvest of the farmed clams will offer unique opportunities to study the effects of geoduck aquaculture on soft-sediment tideflat and eelgrass meadow habitats.

This project will explore changes in the habitats within and nearby a commercial geoduck bed during the geoduck aquaculture cycle, from harvesting the clams through the reseeding of a new crop and the removal of protective PVC pipe. Detailed surveys from before and after these events, both inside and outside the geoduck bed, will produce data on initial impacts on and rates of recovery for eelgrass meadow and soft-sediment invertebrate communities. These data will shed light on interactions between commercial geoduck aquaculture practices and local marine habitats.

More Information