Oyster
The largest oyster-producing body of water in the United States is Chesapeake Bay, although these beds have decreased in number due to overfishing and pollution. Willapa Bay in Washington produces more oysters than any other estuary in the US. Other large oyster farming areas in the US include the bays and estuaries along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from Apalachicola, Florida in the east to Galveston, Texas in the west. Large beds of edible oysters are also found in Japan and Australia. In 2005, China accounted for 80% of the global oyster harvest. Within Europe, France remained the industry leader.
Netarts Bay
The oyster industry along the West Coast of North America relies almost exclusively on the Pacific Oyster, "Crassostrea gigas". There are only three locations on the West Coast of North America where natural recruitment of "C. gigas" takes place: Willapa Bay, WA, Hood Canal WA, and British Columbia, Canada. Recruitment elsewhere is limited by cold water temperatures that inhibit spawning and low residence time of water that flushes out larvae, making the oyster industry dependent on hatcheries to raise larvae. Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery, located in Netarts Bay, is one of the largest providers of larvae for the industry. In the late summer of 2007, the hatchery saw massive die offs in larvae, resulting in zero production for multiple months on end. Similar die offs and production failures occurred at other Pacific Northwest hatcheries and oyster farms. Water samples from Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery tested positive for a bacteria, Vibrio tubiashii, and this pathogen was suspected to be the cause of the mortality. However, after installing a new system to clean the water, another round of die-offs occurred.