Geoduck harvest returns to Whidbey Island after long hiatus
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NEAR WHIDBEY ISLAND, Wash. -- The commercial geoduck harvest is returning to Whidbey Island after being closed for several years.
The big, funny-looking shellfish are a multi-million-dollar business for Washington -- nearly the only place you can find geoducks.
Blake Herr makes decent money harvesting the geoducks as start at $11 a pound.
"Today, we probably did around 1,100 pounds," he said. Some of it will likely go off to Japan or Beijing.
The divers along this part of Whidbey Island say they're found them within a few feet of each other, even within a few inches of each other. And the dives are taking just a small fraction of that.
Aboard Peter Adolph's boat, he's hit his 3,000 pound limit for the commercial harvest season on south Whidbey Island, the first one here in years. And state inspectors are right there counting every pound.
Wildilfe agents make these guys follow the rules, and hunt for illegal poachers too.
"That's an incredibly hard job when you're talking about this much water for an incredibly lucrative product," said Sgt. Eric Olsen with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Within hours, the geoducks are headed for Sea-Tac Airport.
"This will be in China tomorrow, five days a week," Adolph said. "Five days a week. It's pretty amazing."
The Whidbey Island harvest ends Friday.
Geoducks can live 40 years or more. The oldest was well over 100 years old -- a long time to be sitting in the mud at the bottom of Puget Sound.
The big, funny-looking shellfish are a multi-million-dollar business for Washington -- nearly the only place you can find geoducks.
Blake Herr makes decent money harvesting the geoducks as start at $11 a pound.
"Today, we probably did around 1,100 pounds," he said. Some of it will likely go off to Japan or Beijing.
The divers along this part of Whidbey Island say they're found them within a few feet of each other, even within a few inches of each other. And the dives are taking just a small fraction of that.
Aboard Peter Adolph's boat, he's hit his 3,000 pound limit for the commercial harvest season on south Whidbey Island, the first one here in years. And state inspectors are right there counting every pound.
Wildilfe agents make these guys follow the rules, and hunt for illegal poachers too.
"That's an incredibly hard job when you're talking about this much water for an incredibly lucrative product," said Sgt. Eric Olsen with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Within hours, the geoducks are headed for Sea-Tac Airport.
"This will be in China tomorrow, five days a week," Adolph said. "Five days a week. It's pretty amazing."
The Whidbey Island harvest ends Friday.
Geoducks can live 40 years or more. The oldest was well over 100 years old -- a long time to be sitting in the mud at the bottom of Puget Sound.
If you want to see a funny documentary about the geoduck, watch "3 Feet Under; Digging Deep For The Geoduck".Â
That picture of the guy in a blue KOMO jacket holding a GeoDuck must be Jeff Burnside. Â Hey Jeff ............ Proof read your stories before you post them.
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"The divers along this part of Whidbey Island say they're found them within a few feet of each other".
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"Blake Herr makes decent money harvesting the geoducks as start at $11 a pound".
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 @Seahawker It wouldn't be a KOMO article without ridiculous proofreading issues.Â
Blake Herr makes decent money harvesting the geoducks as start at $11 a pound. Â HUH??
The divers along this part of Whidbey Island say they're found them within a few feet of each other. Â Â WHAT???
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Is diving for them the only good way to fish them? I know they can be dug for, but how lucrative is that? I have never tried one and would like to. I could drive that far if I knew the particulars (details on how, where, etc.) Could anyone advise me on where to shop? Does the Pike St. Market have a reasonable availability/price?
 @Elvis Diving is the only way to go as far as commercial purposes go. You have to have at least a -2.6 or -2.8 tide to get them by hand, and you only see 4-6 of those per year.Â
 @Elvis Good luck getting any of  those GeoDucks here. They sell most of  them to overseas buyers. Mostly to the Asians because they pay HUGE prices for them over there.
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Sad really because they're really good.Â
This is what i send to my dad in Md. in exchange for the blue crabs from the bay.
 @Brokesince08 GeoDucks for Blue Crab???? Your Dad is loving that trade. Dungeness Crab is way better that Blue Crab and so are the GeoDucks.Â
To each his own I guess.
Is it really necessary for geo ducks to look like male genitalia? how can anyone eat those things... lol
 @kelliellid I know... for a second there I thought I'd accidentally clicked on a porn site.
 @kelliellid And yet you are strangely attracted...
 @Elvis  @kelliellid no, not exactly.
r they different then the octopie? i dont see any ranting and raving, must be.
Oh what I wouldn't give to have one of those in my mouth right now.
 @dylandawgie Sarcasm noted! Funny...
Geoducks are fun to dig, and awesome to eat. Â
Fresh geoducks make the best fried clams ever. Cooking them so they are not overdone is the challenge.
Yuck! I'll pass on that.Â
Good...! I will buy some for a Chinese Hot-Pot ....yummy !!!
i can't imagine something that lives in the mud tasting good, but hey, somebody likes them obviously!
 @stargunner Catfish, pork ribs, oysters, just sayin'
 @Howard Beale  @stargunner Crawdads!!
They look horny!