![]() ![]() Geoducks occur from Newport Bay, California to Kodiak Island, Alaska.In 1987 a good friend and culinary mentor the late Fred Hendee, a Seattle native, returned from a quick trip to his home state with a half dozen Geoduck clams. Geoducks feed on phytoplankton some of which is transported to deeper depths by wind-driven or tidal currents. They can then use their ciliated foot to crawl along the surface of the sea bed and eventually they use their foot to burrow down in the sand. Then the larvae transform into a dissochonch which changing from a planktonic existence to a sedentary one on the seabed surface. Besides the reproductive output of these large clams, recruitment is low and juveniles are scarce.įertilized eggs are suspended in the water column and then become larvae after between 16 and 47 days. Fertilization occurs in the water column. Males mature at a smaller size and earlier age than females.įemales have huge ovaries that contain many millions of eggs but they are dribble spawners only releasing one to two million eggs in a single spawning event. Geoducks have been found to be sexually mature after 3 years and still producing gametes up to 107 years old. Geoducks studied in British Columbia found the gonads of geoducks to be ripe in April and May and for reproduction to occur in June and July, with males having a more protracted spawning event than females. In fast growing areas, they can grow up to 30 mm per year for the first 3-4 years of their life. Growth rate is extremely variable throughout a geoducks life. Growth is rapid during the first years of life and then nearly ceases. The geoduck clam passes through seven life-history stages. Though this situation permits the sale of processed clams with viscera removed, exvessel value for processed clams is significantly less than that for whole, live product. The mantle and necks are the usual body parts consumed and PSP concentrations are lower in these parts. In particular, high levels of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) have been found in geoducks in Southeast Alaska, most strongly associated with the viscera. Small juveniles have a large, well-developed foot, which becomes proportionally smaller as the clam grows.Ī troubling problem is the tendency for geoduck clams to bioaccumulate undesirable microorganisms or compounds. The outside and inside of its shell are white and the shell is rounded anteriorly, truncated at the siphon end, gaping at all sides due to a large body and neck. Geoducks can bury themselves so that their siphons stretch 1 meter to the substrate surface. The shell has been measured to be up to 212 mm with a wet weight of 3.25 kg. The Pacific geoduck clam Panopea generosa is one of the largest burrowing clams in the world. The Technical Papers and Special Publications Series.CSIS – Community Subsistence Information System.Cultural and Subsistence Harvest Permits.Subsistence and Personal Use Fishing Permits.Online General Season & Registration Permits.Western Alaska Salmon Stock Identification Program (WASSIP).About the Division of Commercial Fisheries.Alaska Resources Library and Information Services (ARLIS).Threatened, Endangered, and Diversity Program.Alaska Fish and Wildlife News (Magazine).Board of Fisheries and Game: Actions & Activities.
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