Pacific Seafood Group gets into lucrative oyster market


Clackamas-based Pacific Seafood Group bought Coast Seafoods Co., one of the largest oyster producers in the country.

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Clackamas-based Pacific Seafood Group bought Coast Seafoods Co., one of the largest oyster producers in the country.

Coast has oyster farms on 14,000 acres of tidelands in Willipa Bay and Grays Harbor in Washington and Humboldt Bay, Calif. It owns a large hatchery on Hood Canal near the town of Quilcene, Wash. and owns 50 percent of the Penn Cove Shellfish Co. in Coupeville, Wash. It employs between 250-450 people depending on the time of year, said Coast CEO John Petrie, who will remain with the company.

The Northwest shellfish industry has enjoyed some banner years. Improving water conditions have contributed to strong yields for oyster growers after some difficult years and consumer demand has remained strong even as the economy has sagged. 

Shellfish has become a hotter commodity in part because it is relatively affordable compared to some fish species now selling for $15-$20 a pound.

Read more at OregonLive.com.

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