Puget Sound Restoration Fund

In 2006 nine adventurous shoreline dwellers from Bainbridge Island teamed up with Puget Sound Restoration Fund to begin gardening on their tidelands. The beaches varied greatly in substrate type from the calm, muddy inlets of Port Madison Bay to the exposed and gravelly beaches near Lynwood Center. Since the initial shellfish installations in 2006 we have successfully planted a total of 30 gardens around the island and our shellfish gardeners are sending us reports of their “absolutely fabulous clams” and “fantastic oysters.”

Shellfish Gardening Program Goals:

Raise awareness of water quality in Puget Sound
Clean water by increasing populations of filter feeding shellfish
Increase oyster spat distribution by growing native oysters
Provide habitat for young marine species that benefit from oyster bed protection
Get excited about the prospects of growing, eating and sharing your bounty!

We are looking forward to planting numerous gardens in 2009! If you are interested in our shellfish gardening program you can contact Morgan Rohrbach (206)780-6947 to sign up.

Small-scale clam farming for pleasure and profit in Washington, September 2005 (PDF, 6.8MB)

Small-scale oyster farming for pleasure and profit in Washington, August 2004 (PDF, 1.5MB)

Digging in clam bags at a community beach near the mouth of Port Madison
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