Big Cove is a commercial hatchery and shellfish farming operation located in the South Puget Sound, with beaches in Oakland Bay and Totten Inlet. Pacific Oysters and Manila clams are the primary species cultivated. The company’s Managing Member, Brendan Mahaffey, has been in the live seafood business for over 15 years and is involved in all aspects of beach aquaculture and hatchery production. The hatchery was formerly operated by Dahman Shellfish Company during the 1980s and 1990s and so has been around for a time. Over the past 3 decades, much has changed in the Totten Inlet waterway. We hope that participating in the SoundToxins program will provide our company with significant data on water quality parameters and phytoplankton characteristics that affect our oyster and clam seed production.
Coast Seafoods Company produces sustainably farmed oysters and has a hatchery located in Quilcene, WA for the growing of shellfish larvae and seed stock. Monitoring for HAB species in waters around the shellfish beds is important in ensuring that the oysters are safe to eat.
Alondra Frye and Teresa Mason
Hama Hama is a sustainable shellfish company located in Hood Canal that has been family-run for five generations. Oysters are the primary species cultivated, and are also sourced from other areas of Washington State including the South Puget Sound region as well as the San Juan Straits.
Founded in 1986, Long Live the Kings (LLTK) has been aiming to rebuild salmon and steelhead populations in both the Hood Canal and Puget Sound regions. While attempting to restore these species, LLTK has partnered with numerous scientific disciplines including SoundToxins. Jed Moore, Mike O'Connell, and Michael Schmidt monitor phytoplankton for harmful algal species year-round at the hatchery.
Penn Cove Shellfish, LLC is the oldest and largest mussel farm in the U.S., founded by the Jefferds family in June 1975 in Coupeville, WA. The sustainable shellfish farm formed a joint venture in 1996 with Coast Seafoods Company, America’s largest oyster farm. Approximately 2 million pounds of mussels are grown and harvested each year and including Penn Cove Mussels and over 26 varieties of Pacific Oysters. Penn Cove Shellfish has been a SoundToxins participant since 2009.
Marisa Boulvevde, Tim Jones and Danielle Vracin
Seattle Shellfish was formed in 1997 to engage in the business of growing, harvesting and distributing specialty seafood. The company’s principal products are Pacific oysters, Manila clams and Geoduck clams. Shellfish is grown in the tidelands of South Puget Sound in Washington State, one of the largest growing areas in the United States. We are members of the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and work closely with other growers in the area to ensure that only high quality shellfish are harvested from the waters of South Puget Sound. Benjamin Darin of Seattle Shellfish samples Spencer Cove - Harstine Island and Oakland Bay.
The Taylor family has been growing shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels and geoducks) in Puget Sound for over 100 years. Taylor Shellfish is the largest Manila Clam producer in the U.S. and they farm the rare Olympia Oyster. They have multiple farming locations in the bays and inlets of Puget Sound: The Dosewallips, Eld Inlet, Oakland Bay, Samish Bay, Skookum Inlet, Totten Inlet, Willapa Bay, and Dabob Bay Hatchery. Matthew Martin samples Dabob Bay while Zak Ly samples Burley Lagoon for SoundToxins.
Matthew Martin and Zak Ly
