Biogeochemical changes due to geoduck culture

Geochemical and Ecological Consequences of Disturbances Associated with Geoduck Aquaculture Operations in Washington

Washington Sea Grant-funded research found significant but transient effects from geoduck aquaculture on mobile marine animals and no significant effects on benthic communities.

Principal Investigator

Glenn VanBlaricom, University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Co-Principal Investigators

David Armstrong, University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Jeffrey Cornwell, University of Maryland, Horn Point Marine Laboratory

Tim Essington, University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

Roger Newell, University of Maryland, Horn Point Marine Laboratory

Project

Under legislative mandate, Washington Sea Grant undertook a large-scale, six-year multidisciplinary study of the ecological and biochemical effects of geoduck planting and harvest. In 2012 researchers investigated the effects of planting on benthic and sediment-surface fauna and the responses of fish and other mobile animals to the PVC tubes and nets installed to protect young geoducks.

Publications

VanBlaricom GR, Eccles JL, Olden JD, McDonald PS (2015) Ecological effects of the harvest phase of geoduck (Panopea generosa Gould, 1850) aquaculture on infaunal communities in southern Puget Sound, Washington. Journal of Shellfish Research 34(1):171-187.

McDonald, PS, Galloway AWE, McPeek KC, VanBlaricom GR (2015) Effects of geoduck (Panopea generosa Gould, 1850) aquaculture gear on resident and transient macrofauna communities of Puget Sound, Washington. Journal of Shellfish Research 34(1):189-202.