Growing Pacific oysters
Max and Lilli Clausen started Clausen Oysters with the first oyster seeding in l980 after leasing some submerged ground in Coos Bay from Coos County. Due to cold water conditions oysters in Coos Bay do not spawn and oyster seed (also referred to as cultch or spat) has to be purchased from seed suppliers.
Seeding in Coos Bay usually takes place during the spring months. Oysters grow well in Coos Bay because rich nutrients are brought into the bay by the twice daily tidal exchange. The first crop was ready in l984. After that, each seeding yielded a years worth of fresh oyster harvesting to fill the increasing orders.
 Oyster seed in bags
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Each truckload brings a thousand bags of seed from Washington state. The seed is being unloaded onto the barge.
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Oyster Seed is shaken out of the bags onto the barge. The barge will leave at high tide and the seed will be shoveled onto the oyster beds in Coos Bay
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