Harvest trends from classified waters vary. Factors contributing to harvest success include level of effort, the relative health of a particular stock, consumer demand and, of course, the water quality in classified growing areas. Shellfish farming, or aquaculture, which is usually conducted in the same classified waters as the wild harvest, has also become an important harvest factor. Finally, there is the almost entirely undocumented recreational harvest. Over 77 million pounds of shellfish were commercially harvested in 1995.
Recreational harvest is undocumented, but potentially significant.