Interdependence and Connections to Food Web The geoduck is one of the longest living animals with most living up to 100 years (One recorded life was 168 years!) Part of this is due to not having many predators and part of this is due to their sedentary, or inactive, lifestyle. Sitting all day using your siphon to get food is not a lot of work. Shellfish, like geoducks, are an important part of a healthy ecosystem because their active filtering can help improve or maintain water quality. Threats The Geoduck has very few predators other than humans. Some are harvested by divers with special tools, some in special aquaculture farms, and some are harvested on beaches when the tide goes out. However, this is not an easy task. You do not simple DIG a geoduck. You must excavate! Keep in mind, if a geoduck is unearthed it cannot rebury itself. This clam has come out of its shell as a delicacy in many Asian countries! The clams currently sell for huge sums of money. In China they fetch more than US$150/pound and now require policing by the Washington Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife for illegal harvesting.
Interdependence and Connections to Food Web The geoduck is one of the longest living animals with most living up to 100 years (One recorded life was 168 years!) Part of this is due to not having many predators and part of this is due to their sedentary, or inactive, lifestyle. Sitting all day using your siphon to get food is not a lot of work. Shellfish, like geoducks, are an important part of a healthy ecosystem because their active filtering can help improve or maintain water quality. Threats The Geoduck has very few predators other than humans. Some are harvested by divers with special tools, some in special aquaculture farms, and some are harvested on beaches when the tide goes out. However, this is not an easy task. You do not simple DIG a geoduck. You must excavate! Keep in mind, if a geoduck is unearthed it cannot rebury itself. This clam has come out of its shell as a delicacy in many Asian countries! The clams currently sell for huge sums of money. In China they fetch more than US$150/pound and now require policing by the Washington Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife for illegal harvesting.
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