We operate a community shellfish farm in Puget Sound to restore and maintain healthy shellfish growing areas, spur cleanup efforts and maintain community access to shellfish resources.

PORT MADISON COMMUNITY SHELLFISH FARM

Our shellfish farm reaps great results

Operating since 2010, the Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm (PMCSF) is located on the pristine Bloedel Reserve tidelands on Bainbridge Island. As a small, volunteer-supported farm, PMCSF seeks to directly connect locals to the benefits of a healthy watershed through its CSA (Community Supported Aquaculture) program. We achieve this as community members grow, tend, harvest and eat oysters right from our own beaches. All proceeds from PMCSF shellfish sales support local water quality improvement projects and community engagement programs.

PORT MADISON COMMUNITY SHELLFISH FARM

Re-forging connections between local communities and healthy resources

PMCSF helps the Bainbridge Island community build connections to marine resources and renew commitments to clean water and healthy shorelines. Volunteer-supported harvests have produced nearly 1,500 dozen oysters annually for members and local events. In recent years, summer oyster mortality has impacted growers in Puget Sound. PSRF is working diligently with researchers to understand why. Unpredictable inventory has led PSRF to halt our CSA harvest for the past two seasons. Now we are evolving the CSA program and are hopeful for a bountiful harvest in late winter and early spring of 2022!

PORT MADISON COMMUNITY SHELLFISH FARM

Farming, harvesting and eating oysters is part of the solution to restoring Puget Sound

Oysters are a tasty, festive way to eat healthy as they are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Equally important, growing these shellfish has environmental benefits, including improved water quality and increased species diversity. Vigorously feeding on microalgae, a single oyster like those grown at the Port Madison farm, can filter 20 gallons of seawater a day. Oysters provide habitat structure and refuge for juvenile fish, crabs and other invertebrates. We believe these positive connections between you, your environment and your dinner plate are the key to active, enjoyable and meaningful shoreline stewardship.

What does it mean to become a CSA member?

For the past decade, PMCSF has used a Community Supported Aquaculture (CSA) model that allows participants to buy a seasonal membership and receive deliveries of shellfish throughout the spring and summer. As a supporter of the PMCSF you are invited to volunteer with growing and harvesting the oysters. This means you get to visit the farm, help us tend, collect and bag shellfish and partake in the fun of eating locally! Being a part of this shellfish farming community means more than receiving shellfish; it means having the opportunity to connect with a local food source and contribute to critical pollution control efforts in your watershed.

For 2022, instead of an annual membership, opportunities to purchase oysters and volunteer on the tide will be offered month-by-month allowing flexibility with our inventory and allowing more folks to get involved over the course of the season.

For folks who have purchased PMCSF oysters from the Friday, August 26th harvest, the oysters will be available for pick up from self-serve coolers at the PSRF office (8001 Day Road West, Bainbridge Island) from Friday afternoon, 8/26 through Saturday evening, 8/27. We have also scheduled tentative upcoming harvest dates for September 23rd and October 28th if inventory allows. We will post a link for purchasing closer to the harvest dates. Contact Josh Bouma, PMCSF Manager at josh@restorationfund.org for questions about the harvest schedule or to learn about volunteering at the farm.

Learn More About PSRF's First Community Shellfish Farm in Drayton Harbor

A Reinvention Story

Drayton Harbor Community Oyster Farm

In 2014, PSRF’s first community oyster farm officially left the nest. The Drayton Harbor farm transitioned to a for-profit business called Drayton Harbor Oyster Company LLC.

Enticing a commercial venture back to Drayton Harbor was part of the original vision dating back to 1999 when Geoff Menzies and PSRF first conceived of launching a community oyster farm to spur water quality improvements and invest in the health of the bay. Our goal – then and now – was to restore commercial, recreational and tribal harvest. Lo these many years later, a commercial venture has taken the plunge and we are cheering them on. The new farm is owned and operated by Steve and Mark Seymour, a family with a 25-year history of oyster farming in Drayton Harbor.

Moving forward, PSRF will continue to partner with the new farm on all manner of Drayton Harbor projects, including Olympia oyster restoration. CSA members cultivated over many a year will be lovingly tended as the farm expands local and overseas sales.

The farm will continue to draw attention to the need for clean water and press forward with pollution control efforts in order to preserve the long oyster farming history of the bay. There are still a significant number of shellfish acres needing recovery, which will require concerted and sustained action in the years ahead. We are hopeful that the taste of “Drayton Golds” will help propel these efforts forward.

Check out Drayton Harbor Oyster Company’s Facebook Page.  Also, this read this fantastic article from Encyclopedia of Puget Sound about the little shellfish farm that could.

Learn More About Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish Farm and PSRF

A Community Shellfish Farm Leads to Better Water Quality

Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish Farm

Puget Sound Restoration Fund has been invested in the Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish Farm since 2002, along with our partners, Washington State University, Elliott’s Oyster House and Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association.  Henderson Inlet, a charming estuary in southern Puget Sound, not far from Olympia had been closed to shellfish harvesting for years due to water quality issues.   At the outset of our collaboration, PSRF wanted to join hands with others in the watershed to restore clean water in a historic shellfish growing area – and good things have happened as a result of this undertaking.  In the face of increased development, and contrary to predicted trends, water quality has improved.

On January 27, 2010, the Washington Department of Health upgraded 240 acres of the Henderson Inlet commercial growing area to Approved.  The Henderson Inlet Community Shellfish Farm is now located on approved ground.  This represents a huge community triumph.  Hats off to residents, businesses and local governments within the Henderson Inlet watershed for tackling pollution sources and improving water quality for all.

On June 13, the Washington Department of Health upgraded 100 acres of shellfish harvesting area in Henderson Inlet, based on improved marine water quality. A lot of great work by their Thurston County partners and area residents made this possible. For more information about this upgrade and to view their news release follow this link:
http://www.doh.wa.gov/CommunityandEnvironment/Shellfish/HotTopics.aspx

What Does PSRF do with Proceeds from Shellfish Sales?

Shellfish Sales Proceeds Put into Action

The funds generated from shellfish sales go towards local water quality improvement projects and community outreach efforts.  Here are some examples of our ongoing efforts:

  • Conduct farm tours each year to educate students, parents, and teachers in shellfish aquaculture and water quality.

  • Harvest over hundreds of dozens of oysters for public events, including Oyster New Year at Elliott’s Oyster House.

  • Install shellfish gardens on private tidelands to invest local property owners in the value of clean water.

  • Involve volunteers in thinning and harvesting oysters, preparing shellfish garden kits, organizing aquaculture gear and serving community-grown shellfish at local events.

  • Sponsor annual oyster giveaways for local residents who take action to manage their septic systems (residents receive one dozen oysters with proof of inspection).

  • Increase education and awareness about the effects of pet waste on water quality.

  • Provide a free mobile pump-out service to boaters in Port Madison Bay and help boaters understand how bacterial pollution from sewage can affect water quality and marine resources.

Support PSRF's Community Shellfish Farms

Support PSRF's Community Shellfish Farms

PSRF has conducted 10 successful harvest seasons at the Port Madison Community Shellfish Farm. The Bloedel Reserve and Suquamish Tribe continue to be invaluable partners by providing tidelands for the farm. Please consider supporting PSRF's Community Shellfish Farm Program.

Support PSRF

CONTACT

Josh Bouma, Community Shellfish Farms Program Leader | josh@restorationfund.org

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