Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm

The Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm (PMCSF), located on the Bloedel Reserve tidelands on Bainbridge Island, is PSRF’s newest farm. The PMCSF seeks to connect community members directly with the benefits of a healthy watershed by growing, harvesting and eating community grown clams and oysters. Growing shellfish has many environmental benefits, including improved water quality, species diversity and eelgrass growth. In fact, a single oyster can filter 20 gallons of water a day.  Shellfish can be part of the solution to cleaning up Puget Sound. We believe this positive connection between you, your environment and your dinner plate is the key to active and enjoyable environmental stewardship. 

Harvesting oysters from the Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm on a beautifully sunny day
(photo Marc Shor)

The Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm is looking forward to the 2013 harvest season with anticipation; mouths are watering for more of the sweet and delicate, tasty bounty of oysters.

Since the opening 2010 season, CSA membership has increased every year as more and more Bainbridge residents are building a connection to their marine resources and renewing their commitment to clean water and healthy shorelines. During the 2012 season we harvested 483 dozen oysters for 47 loyal CSA members and we'd like to reach our goal of 75 members for 2013! Our annual Planting the Seed; Sowing and Celebrating Local Shellfish outreach event boasted 30 volunteers and seeded the farm with 20,000 new oyster seed. The 69 volunteers certainly had their work cut out for them - contributing more than 237 total work hours to the farm. Thank you to all who have supported the farm by purchasing memberships, volunteering during farm seedings and harvests, and slurping the delicious oysters that are the result of our efforts to protect and maintain great water quality and healthy beaches surrounding Port Madison and Bainbridge Island.  All farm proceeds go back into local water quality and habitat improvement projects!

Sign up now before our 2013 PMCSF CSA memberships sell out, and enjoy five harvests between March and July of our delicious Port Madison Petites!  Pass the word along to your family, friends and neighbors and be a part of this growing community of oyster lovers.  Print, complete and mail in the pdf membership form below, or sign up online using our paypal link.

Membership Details

You can use PayPal to pay online! (You don't need a PayPal account; just a credit card.)

Alternate harvest date, if necessary, will be Friday August 16th, Harvest Time: 6:00am - 9:00am, Pick-Up Time: 1:00pm - 11:00pm at PSRF Office 

 
 Celebrating the harvest

Our 2013 Oyster-Give-Away Program is a related project aimed to address pollution that affects local harvest. Step up to get your septic systems inspected and maintained and we will salute you with FREE OYSTERS for helping to improve water quality conditions in the Sound. More information about the program HERE

Where to find Port Madison Petites

• Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market
• Local Harvest Restaurant
• Hitchcock
• Harbour Public House
• Bainbridge Island Town and County

Highlights & Completed Projects

2010 was PMCSF’s inaugural season, followed by another hugely successful season in 2011!  Thanks to the help and support of our community, project partners and farm members, accomplishments to date include:

• Received the first farm permit under the Army Corp’s new national aquaculture regulations.
• Increased the number of Community Supported Aquaculture (CSA) farm members from 6 in 2010 to 31 in 2011.
• Harvested 780 dozen oysters in 2010 and 643 dozen oysters in 2011.  This supplied our CSA members, the Bainbridge Island Farmer’s Market, special events, local restaurants and the Town and Country and Central Market grocery stores.
• Involved 154 volunteers who spent nearly 400 hours seeding, harvesting, sorting, and hauling oysters.
• Restocked the PMCSF with 25,000 new ½ inch oyster seed during our “Planting the Seed; Sowing and Celebrating Local Shellfish” outreach event.  We intend for this celebration to become a festive annual volunteer workshop.
• Prevented nearly 1500 gallons of sewage from potentially entering Port Madison as a result of a free mobile pump-out service PSRF provided in Port Madison Bay from June through September, 2010 and 2011.
• Launched a new program to provide free oysters to homeowners who have their septic tanks inspected or pumped.
• Installed many new shellfish gardens around Bainbridge Island, Suquamish and Indianola, bringing the total number of personal shellfish gardens supported by PSRF to more than 129.
• Hosted shellfish seed sales in 2010 and 2011 distributing over 165,000 oyster, mussel, and clam seed to individuals for their own shellfish gardens. 
• During the 2012 season we harvested 483 dozen oysters for 47 loyal CSA members. 
• Our 2012 Planting the Seed; Sowing and Celebrating Local Shellfish outreach event boasted 30 volunteers and seeded the farm with 20,000 new oyster seed. 

Project Partners 

• Bloedel Reserve
• Sound Food
• Safeway Foundation
• Bainbridge Community Council
• Bonnell Cove Foundation
• Kitsap County Health District
• Plauche & Stock
• Puget Sound Energy Foundation
• Sustainable Bainbridge,
• Bainbridge Watershed Council
• City of Bainbridge Island
• Port Madison Yacht Club
• Pacific Coast Congress of Harbor Masters and Port Managers
• Cherry Creek Environmental
• Royal Bank of Canada Blue Water Project

For more information about PMCSF and related projects or to get involved, please contact josh@restorationfund.org