Aquaculture Farm Manager Question:

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Farmed and wild shellfish have the same ancestors. There is very little difference between wild and cultured shellfish, as shellfish seed were originally harvested - and are still harvested - from the wild. On the west coast, the species of oyster that is the basis of both the wild and farmed oyster industries is an introduced species from Japan that was brought to the West Coast around 1913. The native oyster of the northwest coast is now rarely found. Both wild and farmed shellfish are filter feeders that consume phytoplankton already in the ocean.