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Dana Daniels

Pilot Olympia Oyster Restoration

Shellfish | Restoration

Olympia oysters play a crucial role in the ecosystem, providing habitat for other species, improving water quality, and supporting local food webs. However, natural populations of Olympia oysters have declined due to overharvesting, habitat loss, and pollution. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife conducted an extensive review of historical records to identify locations where large, natural Olympia oyster beds were present in the Puget Sound prior to exploitation, and identified Drayton Harbor and North Chuckanut Bay as promising locations for restoration efforts. The goal of this work is to establish self-sustaining populations of native Olympia oysters, exceeding 2 million individuals, in each location.

To read more about native Olympia oyster restoration projects along the West Coast, visit the Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative website.

MRC project lead, Jackie Dexter, and Puget Sound Restoration Fund staff, Brian Allen, examine Olympia oysters in Drayton Harbor. Photo credit: Allie Simpson.

Adult Olympia oyster. Photo credit: Dana Daniels.

Students with the Bellingham Technical College Fisheries and Aquaculture program help conduct an annual Olympia oyster population survey in North Chuckanut Bay. Photo credit: Dana Daniels.

Drayton Harbor

Allie Simpson

Proposed Olympia oyster bioassay/test plot locations in Drayton Harbor.

Based on an assessment that the Puget Sound Restoration Fund (PSRF) conducted in 2025, the 2 locations shown on the figure were identified as having suitable habitat characteristics to support Olympia oysters. In 2026, the MRC and PSRF plan to out-plant oyster seed to several bioassays within each of the two sites. In 2027, the MRC plans to conduct monitoring to assess the restoration potential at each of the sites, then will decide whether to enhance successful sites, continue monitoring, and/or identify other potential restoration locations. 

 

Data will also be shared with the WDFW Olympia Oyster Program Lead and will be added to the Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative Restoration Storymap that showcases Olympia oyster restoration along the west coast of North America.

North Chuckanut Bay

Dana Daniels

Proposed Olympia oyster test plots in North Chuckanut Bay.

In 2016, WDFW identified six plots within North Chuckanut Bay to pilot Olympia oyster restoration. In 2017, the MRC established six pilot restoration plots and one reference plot using 95,000 Olympia oyster spat on Pacific oyster shell. From 2018 to 2025, the MRC conducted annual population surveys of each of the test plots to assess restoration potential. Periodically, the substrate within the plots was enhanced with Pacific oyster shell. In 2025, WDFW conducted a site visit of the test plots with MRC staff and identified three that would be suitable for continued restoration efforts.

 

In 2026, the MRC plans to enhance three sites with additional oyster spat as shown in the figure. In 2027, the MRC will begin annual Olympia oyster population assessments.

Pilot Olympia Oyster Restoration