Geoduck Market Price

Despite their unappealing appearance, the market price of this clam has significantly improved in recent years giving geoduck clams the present honour of being one of the most precious commercial shellfish species harvested in British Columbia.

Historically, geoduck clams were harvested for food in the Pacific Northwest by the native population and the clams presently assist a prosperous commercial fishery in Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington. For example, between 1996 and 2000, the landed value of the geoduck industry in British Columbia was improved from about 36 million to 41 million Canadian dollars

Presently, most of Alaskas 400,000 pound geoduck crop is destined for Hong Kong and China, where they retail for up to $30 a pound. Their texture has been variously described as sweet, crunchy, or rubbery.

It's not easy money to be made, even for the professionals. To defend against over-harvesting, commercial geoduck hunters are restricted to a zone where water is between 18-70 feet deep, which requires crucial cold-water scuba gear, not to mention high-pressure hoses to blast the clams out of their hiding spaces.