The shellfish will feed on their own for up to several years until they're fully grown. Once harvested, they're sorted, inspected, weighed, cleaned and boxed. All shellfish are tagged with the date and place they were harvested. Shellfish create a good habitat for salmon because they filter particles and nutrients from the water to get their food. These mollusks bury themselves in the mud for protection.
Some growers raise clams in big net bags that make it easier to harvest.
Clamming is hard work, wet and cold, done on your hands and knees in almost all weather conditions. Mussels Mussel seeds are put in a fine net and hung on poles in the water. This suspended technique keeps the mussels clean. Most grow wild in the sand, but a few farmers are experimenting with raising geoducks in pipes buried in the sand. You can learn more about aquaculture from the Web site of the Washington Fish Growers Association .