WHY DOES AN ARTIFICIAL SHELLFISH BED NEED TO BE RE-SEEDED?
Clams and oysters are “broadcast spawners,” meaning that the eggs, sperm, and resulting larvae mingle and move about in Puget Sound’s swift water currents. It is unlikely that offspring from the planted clams and oysters would settle as larvae on the same beach from which they originated. For this reason, artificial shellfish beds periodically need to be re-seeded. Shellfish enhancement on individual beaches is not intended to be self-perpetuating, but the progeny from planted shellfish likely add to the general clam and oyster population in Puget Sound.
