Washington Sea Grant Shellfish Growers Meeting Notes

This post contains my notes and thoughts from attending the Washington Sea Grant Conference for Shellfish Growers on March 11-12 2024.

Day 1

Welcome session

Topic 1: Pest Management

Integrated Pest Management Working Group Updates: David Beugli, Willapa Grays Harbor Oyster Growers Association and Laura Butler, Washington State Department of Agriculture

  • IMP working group
  • Problem: burrowing shrimp (mud and ghost shrimp) burrow, disrupt substrate, remove nutrients. All shellfish culture methods are susceptible.
  • IMP monitors presence, abundance, damage, densities, and treatment
  • Biological, cultural, mechanical, chemical, and testing methodologies
  • Work with Willapa Grays Harbor Growers Association (WGHOGA) and Department of Ecology
  • To date, no solution identified but several leads for natural oils and mechanical methods of control
  • ipmwg.org

Collaborative Research to Understand Coastal Cutthroat Trout and Salmon in the Nearshore Marine Environment: James Losee, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

  • Salmon do stay in Salish Sea during marine part of their lifecycle, but we are missing data about this “alternative” life history.
  • These are referred to as resident salmon, especially chinook and coho.
  • Check out Losee’s papers for more information - he has a lot of interesting fisheries work!
  • Cutthroat trout are far less studied than salmon, and he is working on this now.
  • The cutthroat life cycle is different than salmon - they stay nearshore and overlap with shellfish habitat in shallow water. Year round present with high site fidelity.
  • They may migrate elesewhere for spawning, but this is often short with return back to site.
  • Doing telemetry work to track movement.
  • They spend time around mussel rafts and eat diverse thigns - including some shellfish “pests”.
  • Shellfish could be supporting cutthroat and salmon life history during stay in Salish Sea.

Green Crab Research Project: Laura Kraft, Washington State University

  • European Green Crab can eat lots of things - including oysters, mussles, clams, and maybe geoduck (although probably just siphon snipping).
  • Ran choice/no choice experiments to determine preferred prey items for invasive adult crabs.
  • Crabs ate more Pacific oyster spat than adults with no difference by crab sex or size.
  • They preferred larger spat (ate more 5 mo old spat than 2 mo old).
  • An outstanding question is what is the size/age refuge for Pacific oysters? When do the shells become too tough for a crab to crack? Because of shell strength, mussels are preferred food source.
  • Suggestion for growers is to cage spat to protect them or put them out after they are larger with harder shells.

Topic 2: Shellfish Mortality

Clam Mortality and New Technology Gaps/Needs: Andy Suhrbier, Pacific Shellfish Institute

  • Green crab shellfish prey items
  • High mortality coincides with lack of recruitment in Manilla clams
  • Possibel predation of clam seed
  • Crabs can settle inside clam bags
  • Growers are concerned with lack of clam production in Willapa Bay
  • 2016 decline coincided with low recruitment
  • Potential factors contributing to this are water quality, seasonality, toxins, predators, and settlement/fecundity
  • Currently doing grower surveys including core sampling and netting
  • Running correlations to historic environmental data
  • nvs.nanoos.org/expolorer
  • Also doing in person surveys for mortality and pests
  • Low spring survival and no significant recruitment in the last 10 years

Virginia Institute of Marine Science Oyster Mortality Workshop Update: Bobbi Hudson, Pacific Shellfish Institute

  • VIMS workshop goals and results
  • Goal is to look at summer mortality causes and impacts in the Eastern oyster, C. virginica
  • Pacific folks including B Hudson and S Roberts attended
  • SUMS = sudden observed mortality over a short time frame
  • Sudden, unexplained, spring/summer, unusual, syndrome mortality
  • Not exclusive to triploids, but triploids can be more susceptible
  • Stressors including low salinity (<13ppt), temperature, pH, low dissolved oxygen, food limitation, and others
  • Dr. Ralph Elston ruled out diseases as no primary disease is the cause. Some infections are opportunistic in stressed animals
  • Reproductive organ failure, poor digestion, gill damage, feeding inhibitor could all be possible causes or combinations of these
  • Also observed in the east coast
  • Combination of husbandry, environment, and genetics
  • Research efforts include genetics/ploidy, hardening, tolerance, water quality, pathology, and farming practices.
  • May vary by bag type as well
  • Priorities include effectiveness of hardening to withstand stress, breeding resilience, understanding risk, interactive effects, communication, and collaboration
  • Checkout the Longlines Journal

Rapid Response Network: Julieta Martinelli, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife; Rana Brown, Squaxin Island Tribe; Ashleigh Epps, Washington Sea Grant

  • Rapid Response Network through WDFW
  • Developed after June 2021 heatwave and need for rapid response to monitor mortality and state of situations
  • Standardized sampling for management and industry during heat waves or other stress events
  • Development ideas
    • target species
    • index sites
    • control sites
    • sampling method
    • metrics like abundance and size
    • baseline to define “change”
    • data loggers
    • frequency
    • monitor and evaluate plan
    • adaptive management
    • data sharing
  • Tribes - states - industry
  • Early alert network with growers
  • Trial in spring/summer and workshop in fall
  • Developing a shellfish mortality reporting tool for public use

Topic 3: Enhance Farm Technology

Wet Storage System: Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish

  • Wet storage system at Taylor Shellfish to reduce vibrio loads
  • Testing vibrio with kits
  • Stacked tote systems that have water treatment
  • Oyster shell filter to remove ammonium
  • Reduce incidence of illnesses
  • Biological control mechanism of storage
  • 3 days at 52°C reduced vibrio loads by >95%
  • Will be up and running by August in Lynch facility
  • Scalable to small systems
  • Includes foam fractionation system to remove particulates
  • No trade off with taste or quality
  • Expensive to operate, high energy usage

Evaluating the Potential for Co-Location Of Marine Energy and Aquaculture in Puget Sound: Laura Nelson, Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and Liz Tobin, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe

  • Department of Energy reserach = National Labs
  • Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) is the only marine lab in DOE system of labs
  • Powering Blue Economy Initiative to improve community resilience and sea operations including aquaculture
  • Located in Sequim
  • Marine energy = wave and tidal energy
  • Predictable and reliable energy sources, but marine environment is challenging
  • Jamestown S’Klallam tribe is partner for climate change plan
  • Net zero carbon goal by 2032
  • Point Whitney, Manchester, and John Wayne Marina locations
  • Spatial analysis -> energy assessment -> outreach and engagement

Connecting Farm Outcomes with Environmental Monitoring Data: Micah Horwith and Natalie Coleman, Department of Ecology

  • How can scientists connect with growers?
  • Today they solicited observations from growers at the conference
  • Department of Ecology has 25 year history of water quality sampling over 37 sites. OA sampling is newer to their data set (<5 years)
  • North Sound, Hood Canal, South Sound, Willapa Bay & Grays Harbor
  • Temperature data from 1999 to present shows increasing temperatures with strong 2015-2016 heatwave across region
  • Over last 5 years, OA conditions were “worse” in North Sound and “better” in South sound. But these measurements were taken in mid channel and may not represent intertidal.

Topic 4: Shellfish Economics and Policy

Washington Reporting Data: Bobbi Hudson, Pacific Shellfish Institute

  • Updating Washington production database with online resources and data entry

Updating the Zostera Japonica Eelgrass Management NPDES Permit: Shawn Ultican, Department of Ecology

  • Aquatic pesticide permits
  • Eelgrass management permits

THE USDA ARS Pacific Shellfish Research Unit — First Year Progress Updates: Brett Dumbauld, U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • 5 year plan is to improve sustainability of Pacific Oyster aquaculture
  • Improve OSHv1 tolerance, reduce mortality, quantify aquaculture impacts and services

The USDA Pogs Breeding Project, What’s Happening, What It’s Doing And Where It’s Going: Neil Thompson, U.S. Department of Agriculture

  • Improve traits using genetic selection
  • Improve and release shellfish to production
  • POGS = Pacific Oyster Genomic Selection
  • POGS Yr 2023 had 2 spawns with 166 full sibling families
  • Follow up to OSU Molluscan Breeding Program
  • Miyagi population selected for high growth and survival
  • Midori population
  • Both populations from Japan
  • OSHv1 microvariant exposures and tests are taking place in lab (Arizona) and field locations
  • Field locations are San Diego which had virus exposure in 2018-2020, but not detected since, and Tomales Bay with seasonal outbreaks
  • Field control is Willapa Bay
  • Released general excess stock from Years 2023 families 85-176 to hatcheries at 75k each. Also released 30k to Juneau and 15k to Kodiak
  • Spawned March 2023 with 46 Midori and 30 Miyagi families with 6 Willapa wild and 3 inbred hybrids
  • Larvae are in hatchery now
  • 2nd spawn will be Midori only for 82 families and may have higher field survival
  • Will do field and lab tests and release general excess to hatcheries
  • Building new infrastructure

Updates from NOAA Fisheries: What’s new from the West Coast Regional Office and Northwest Fisheries Science Center: Teri King (NOAA Fisheries – West Coast Region), Beth Sanderson & Mackenzie Gavery (NOAA Fisheries – NWFSC)

  • Subscribe to West Coast Aqua Newsletter and NOAA Fisheries Aquaculture Newsletter
  • Look at NWFSC 5-10 year strategic plan for aquaculture science
  • Linking ecosystem function to the permitting process
  • Step 1: synthesis
  • Step 2: Learn from NOAA’s efforts in Northeast
  • Step 3: Tools, models, and calculations
  • Step 4: Link services and function to permitting
  • Nearshore SAVE project at marinesanctuary.org/sav-valuation
  • Mac also talked about environmental physiology
  • Looking at sterility (triploid mortality) and OA mitigation
  • Look at Matt George’s 2023 paper for triploid mortality research
  • Developing novel method for triploid induction through gene silencing
  • OA research looking into porfolio expansion to diversity and buffer risks
  • Also doing priming research in clams from adult to offspring effects

Other contacts and meetings from today

Laura Kraft

  • WSG collaborator, Washington State University

Kathleen Nisbet

  • WSG collaborator, Nisbet Oyster Co.

Matt Henderson

  • WSG, USDA collaborator

Matt George

  • WDFW Coastal Shellfish Manager

Neil Thompson

  • WSG, USDA collaborator, USDA

Derek Epps

  • Seattle Shellfish (Shelton, WA)

Mac Gavery

  • NOAA NWFSC

Day 2

Topic 5: Safe Shellfish Consumption

Updates on the Safeguard Our Shellfish Campaign: Nam Siu, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

  • Shellfish and seaweed management and permits
  • Safeguard our Shellfish campaign

What to Expect During Your Shellfish Inspection: Cari Franz-West, Department of Health

  • Department of Health inspection schedules and information
  • Harvestors can grow, harvest, put product in containers, and deliver to licensed shellfish dealers in WA state
  • 81 harvestors in WA
  • 230 shellstock shippers in WA
  • Went through main points of inspections for DOH standards

Department of Health Growing Areas Restoration Program Update: Scott Chernoff, Department of Health

  • Classification of growing area due to water quality conditions ranging from approved to conditionally approved to restricted and prohibited.
  • Puget Sound area has a lot of approved acreage with some restricted or prohibited.
  • Supporting restoration efforts with partners and special sampling as well as early warning system reports.

Phytoplankton Monitoring: Michelle Lepori-Bui, Washington Sea Grant

  • Phytoplankton monitoring and data sharing for prediction of blooms and monitoring

Topic 6: West Coast Ocean Alliance and Ecotrust Workshop

West Coast Ocean Alliance and Ecotrust Workshop

  • Workshop for identifying challenges and new directions for West Coast Ocean Alliance Aquaculture Inventory and reporting
  • West Coast Ocean Alliance works for collaborations, sustainability, and data collection
  • Tribe, state, and federal members
  • Developing aquaculture needs assessment

Other contacts and meetings from today

Ashleigh Epps, WSG Aquaculture Specialist

  • Collaborator, WSG specialist

Beth Sanderson, NOAA

  • NOAA Fisheries

Bobbi Hudson, Pacific Shellfish Institute

  • Pacific Shellfish Institute director
Written on March 11, 2024