Suquamish tribe branching out from geoducks in new Suquamish Seafoods facility
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [Kitsap Sun] By Tad Sooter - October 13, 2014
SUQUAMISH, The lifeblood of the Suquamish Tribe’s seafood business can be found deep under the mud of Puget Sound.
Tribal divers harvest nearly 500,000 pounds of burrowing geoducks each year. The giant clams, popular in Asia, represent 99 percent of business for the tribe’s Suquamish Seafoods LLC.
A 16,000-square-foot processing plant under construction off Sandy Hook Road will give the company flexibility to package and market a host of other marine species, including oysters, Manila clams, crab and salmon. Suquamish Seafoods general manager Tony Forsman expects geoduck to account for about 40 percent of the company’s business 10 years from now.
Expanding product lines should open new opportunities for harvesters while bringing in millions of dollars in new revenue, he said.
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