Shellfish Program
The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Shellfish Program has several different responsibilities including:
Proprietary management and daily harvest enforcement of Washington state's wildstock geoduck fishery. This includes meeting the program's goals to:
- Protect the geoduck resource and the marine environment;
- Provide maximum benefits to the citizens of the state;
- Minimize adverse impacts to shoreline residents;
- Ensure effective enforcement; and
- Encourage a stable and orderly fishery.
Represent DNR in negotiations with Washington State Treaty Tribes on issues and agreements concerning Tribal shellfish treaty rights as outlined within the "Rafeedie Decision" and applied to state-owned aquatic lands. This includes shellfish on intertidal and subtidal lands.
Coordinate the work of DNR's professional dive team. The dive team's primary responsibility is the daily enforcement of the wildstock geoduck fishery, which is a dive fishery. The team, being a commercial dive team, also conducts additional in-water and on-water support activities for the agency.