Skip to content

Enhancement Print E-mail
holdingjuvenillesIn 1994 the UHA started enhancing geoduck populations to ensure the long term success of their fishery.  UHA members felt it was important to develop and refine enhancement technology, even though the existing fishery was not over exploiting geoduck stocks.  This project was initiated solely by industry, without any requests from Federal Fisheries and Oceans, the government agency responsible for the fishery. The UHA initially obtained geoduck seed (hatchery reared juvenile geoducks) from a Vancouver Island hatchery and the first planting trials were completed by hand using relatively small numbers of seed. At the same time, industry initiated research and development to build a seeding machine capable of mechanically planting seed on a commercial scale.

smachine Today, the UHA and a geoduck aquaculture company, Fan Seafoods, jointly operate a floating hatchery on Vancouver Island.  The objective of the enhancement/seeding program is to eventually plant 1 million seed each year.  If all of these geoduck were to survive and live to the average weight of commercial geoduck of about 1 kilogram, the total amount planted would be the equivalent of half the annual quota harvested each year.

Geoduck seed are planted into sandy substrate. Since 1997 the UHA has planted between 250,000 and 700,000 seed each year.  To date the survival has been varied at each of the planting sites, all of which are within the Strait of Georgia on the east coast of Vancouver Island. The results are most encouraging as survival has been better than expected.

The enhancement program is totally funded by the fisherman themselves through their association, the UHA, although some funding was provided by the Province to design and build the first planting machine. There are three people employed to take care of the seed, plant the seed and prepare for the next planting season.  This crew is separate from the staff at the hatchery that produces the seed.