They may reach 20 pounds, though seven is more typical and two a common harvest size. One local clammer claims to have dug a 17-pounder out from five and a half feet deep, with a helper holding his feet. For the whites along Puget Sound, they were cheap, delicious chowder meat. In the mid-'80s, geoduck became a sushi staple and Japanese buyers priced out local vendors. Then China's nouveau riche discovered the outlandish-looking clam and outbid the Japanese.
Indian tribes make millions more.
Despite their lurid looks, ducks are notoriously finicky and unpredictable breeders. Private growers and speculators have had mixed success putting these findings to work. Dahman's much larger neighbor, Taylor Shellfish, a third-generation family firm with 250 employees, has fared better. Taylor's secret is the cold, pure water its hatchery draws from a deep pipe in Hood Canal. Scores of translucent plastic and fiberglass tanks, from 400 to 8,000 liters in size, bubble like a primordial soup.