Oysters

Washington shellfish are among the state’s most lucrative and endangered crops.

Section:Gallery

Sun., Dec. 17, 2017

Eric Hill, the director of clam and oyster farming for Taylor Shellfish at Willapa Bay, inspects the mesh bags that cover a large oyster bed at Willapa Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. The bags flip and move in the ebb and flow of the tide, creating symetrical, clean oysters for the restaurant market.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Eric Hall, left, and Phil Stamp walk across the deck of a speeding work boat while heading out to inspect some oyster beds in Willapa Bay, near Long Beach, Washington Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Willapa Bay and South Puget Sound are very productive oyster growing areas because of the clean, cold water, expansive tidal flats and private ownership of the tidal areas.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Eric Hall, left, and Phil Stamp, right, inspect racks of plastic discs that have been submerged in WIllapa Bay, capturing free swimming oyster larvae, which attach themselves to the discs, shown Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. The discs, used for decades in France, are relatively new to Willapa Bay. Hall manages Taylor Shellfish’ Willapa Bay operations and Stamp manages the Long Beach area facilities.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish holds up a seed oyster, grown in a controlled environment to be a little bigger than a thumbnail, at an oyster nursery in Oakland Bay near Shelton, Washington Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. The rearing of individual seeds are important in the process of growing desirable single oysters for the restaurant market.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
A crew unloads a small mountain of oysters which they had just harvested using traditional dredging techniques on Willapa Bay in southwest Washington Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 near Long Beach, Washington.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Bill Dewey of Taylor Shellfish Company points out that shucked oyster meats are labeled with the detailed source information on each package, telling the buyers which bed they came out of when, shown Friday, Oct. 6, 2017.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
More than a dozen professional shuckers work the production line of Taylor Shellfish Farms’ processing plant in Shelton, Washington Friday, Oct. 6, 2017. These workers remove the meat of the oyster to be canned or otherwise packaged for homes and restaurants around the world. Another line produces single oysters on the half shell for restaurants and oyster bars around the world.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Old oyster shells, contained in net bags, show dozens of tiny dots on them, which are free swimming oyster larvae that have attached to the shells. Once the larvae have “set”, the shells will be placed on the tidal flats of WIllapa Bay, Washington, which are owned by Taylor Shellfish Company.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Anthony Hua, left, and Alex Sida, right, sort oysters from Willapa Bay Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 on Willapa Bay in Western Washington. Behind them is Eric Hall, Director of Clam and Oyster Farming for Taylor Shellfish Farms at Willapa Bay.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Oyster boats are tied up at docks near Long Beach, Washington Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017. Willapa Bay and the South Puget Sound are fertile tidal flats for growing oysters and other bivalves.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Tyler Madsen of Jolly Roger Oysters frantically shucks oyster after oysters at the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championships Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 at OysterFest in Shelton, Washington. Each contestant must shuck 24 oysters as fast as they can, with many able to do it in under two minutes.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review
Mike Barnard, a retired surgeon and volunteer at Oysterfest, slurps a raw oyster leftover after the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championships Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017 in Shelton, Washington. The audience can step up and grab a oyster meat after the contest is over.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review