Small business for climate action

We are proud to raise our voice with the Shellfish Growers’ Climate Coalition, a vocal and committed group of local businesses urging policymakers to act on climate change to benefit nature and people.

Washington’s shellfish are delicious and world-renowned. They also provide jobs central to our economy: Washington is the country’s top provider of farmed clams, oysters and mussels. Shellfish also support healthy nature by filtering water and creating habitats. 

Our changing climate threatens Washington’s shellfish industry, and impacts are here already. Carbon pollution increases ocean acidity, and young organisms have trouble growing their shells. If local businesses cannot grow shellfish, then they cannot continue to sell them.

Sustainable Shellfish Aquaculture

From tribal members who have harvested shellfish for centuries to multi-generational family farms and recreational harvesters, shellfish are a way of life in Washington. Our wildlife, too, depends on the estuaries where they grow: highly productive and complex ecosystems featuring saltmarshes, mudflats, eelgrass meadows and kelp beds.

Our research in Washington is a first step to understanding how different types of aquaculture may accelerate ecosystem recovery. If we can understand how organisms use these ecosystems on shellfish farms compared to natural habitats, we can evolve aquaculture practices for sustainable shellfish that ensures the health of our natural world and our economy.

Our research partners