Events Throughout May
WSU Jefferson County Beach Watchers and members of Friends of Chimacum Creek helped Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spread more than a half a million oyster seeds on the state managed Chimacum Creek tidelands for future harvest. The day was one of the first in of a series of volunteer events called, "Do Some Good for the Hood" taking place throughout Hood Canal and east Jefferson County during the month of May. Click here to view more events.
Beach Watcher Luther Black tussles over a bag of oysters with Mango on the beach. Two hundred bags of oysters were spread by the volunteers. Each bag held approximately 240 large oyster shells and each shell had about a dozen tiny oyster seeds on it. Brady Blake, Puget Sound Intertidal Bivalve Enhancement Biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that about three seeds on each shell will make it to a harvestable size in about 3-5 years.The mature Pacific oysters are not only delicious, but they will help filter the water and provide habitat for other sea life.
In the next post, 2010 Beach Watcher, George B. stars in the video above. The wind came up so the sound quality isn't the best. George is explaining how we seeded Pacific Oysters as part of a "Do Some Good For the Hood" event.