View a list of all commercial shellfish companies licensed in Washington State (in pdf format - requires free Acrobat reader) Alphabetical by company name (134k) Numerical by license number  (131k) (last updated 12/17/07)

The Commercial Shellfish Licensing & Certification Program is responsible for issuing licenses to Washington state commercial shellfish operations and certifying the sites from which they harvest.  A variety of species are harvested commercially in Washington's Puget Sound and coastal regions, including oysters, clams, mussels, geoduck, and scallops. Since these species are filter feeders capable of concentrating chemicals, bacteria, viruses, or marine biotoxins, an ongoing evaluation of commercial shellfish growing areas, certified harvest sites, and licensed facilities is essential to protect the shellfish-consuming public.

There are three major types of commercial shellfish operations:  

• Harvesters, who harvest shellstock (live, unshucked product) and sell only to other licensed Washington state shellfish dealers; 

• Shellstock Shippers, who grow and harvest shellstock, and buy and sell in or outside Washington; and

• Shucker-Packers, whose activities may include those of harvesters and shellstock shippers, plus shucking product for packing in jars or similar containers. 

Commercial shellfish operations are licensed for a period of one year, and licenses must be renewed annually.  All operations must meet stringent state and federal sanitation standards, and are regularly inspected by the Department of Health.

If you are interested in obtaining a commercial shellfish license, please contact our office at (360) 236-3330.

For information on other licenses issued by Environmental Health, visit The Division of Environmental Health Licenses, Certifications, & Permits

Commercial closures  due to vibriosis and re-openings:

In the past few months, the Department of Health put restrictions on the commercial harvest of oysters because of the presence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus bacteria. 

CRITERIA for REOPENING a GROWING AREA

The re-opening of growing areas is on an individual growing area basis.  The department is following the NSSP Control Plan (ICP) for Vibrio parahaemolyticus (Vp) which requires two consecutive passing laboratory tests on oyster tissue meat for each closed growing area.  The tests must be “not less than 4 days apart” and must show no detection of the virulent pathogenic strain for Vp.  The laboratory test being run on the oysters require a level of less than 0.03 tdh per 0.01 gram of oyster tissue, which is the indicator for the virulent strain for Vp.  The ICP also requires no further reported illness from any of these growing areas to satisfy re-opening.  Oyster samples are being collected and submitted to the Public Health Laboratory every week.  

Questions may be directed to Richard Lillie at 360-236-3313 or richard.lillie@doh.wa.gov , or to Jessie DeLoach 360-236-3302, jessie.deloach@doh.wa.gov.

Regulations:

State:

RCW Chapter 69.30, Sanitary Control of Shellfish

Chapter 246 -282 WAC, Sanitary Control of Shellfish

Federal:

National Shellfish Sanitation Program  2005 Guide for the Control of Molluscan Shellfish
(Link to U.S. FDA web site offering html or pdf versions.) 
This document supercedes the 1999 version and is referenced in WAC 246-282.

Other documents:

Interstate Certified Shellfish Shippers List
This FDA web site lists certified commercial shellfish shippers in the U.S., Canada, Chile, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and New Zealand.

DOH Home | Access Washington | Privacy Notice | Disclaimer/Copyright Information Links to external resources are provided as a public service and do not imply endorsement by the Washington State Department of Health. Shellfish Program Office of Shellfish and Water Protection Division of Environmental Health Washington State Department of Health Mailing address:  PO Box 47824                           Olympia, WA  98504-7824 Physical address:  111 E. Israel Road SE                            Tumwater, WA Phone:  360-236-3330 Fax:     360-236-2257 Send inquiries about DOH and its programs to the Health Consumer Assistance Office. For comments or questions regarding this Web site, please send email to OSWP Web Coordinator.

            Last Update : 12/17/2007 01:04 PM