Economic Value of Shellfish in Washington State

Client: Pacific Shellfish Institute

Location: Tokah, WA

Summary: ENTRIX staff, under contract with the Pacific Shellfish Institute, collaborated with Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and others on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA)-funded project to determine the economic value of shellfish in Washington State. Specifically, ENTRIX economists estimated the value of nitrogen removal by shellfish aquaculture in Oakland Bay, WA. ENTRIX identified the value of nitrogen removal using a replacement cost method. Assuming shellfish could no longer be harvested, and therefore the nitrogen they sequester would remain in the waters of Oakland Bay, the cost of treating water to remove the same volume of nitrogen would be approximately $100,000 per year.