Olympia Oyster : The Curious Connection of WASHINGTON’S OYSTER INDUSTRY & THE SAN FRANCISCO GOLD RUS

By Stella Wenstob | Contributing writer

The Olympia Oyster is the only native oyster to the Pacific Northwest. It is found from Baja to Alaska, but its natural stocks are endangered. It is a smaller sized oyster and an odd coppery taste!

As coastal cousins, joined together by water trade and good ports, Washington State and California developed in concert. Washington’s two main early industries, both oysters and lumbering, had their early boom and bust markets directly tied to the San Francisco Gold Rush of 1849.

The lumber barons of Puget Sound transported mass amounts of lumber to build the town of San Francisco. And when miners depleted the natural stocks of Olympia oysters to near extinction in San Francisco Bay, Olympia oysters from Washington filled the gap. Willapa Bay, located on the west coast of Washington, provided the gold miners with a fresh supply of oysters that were close enough that they could be shipped without ice, but the more numerous stocks in Puget Sound were too far away to be safely shipped and retain their edibility to San Francisco by sail in the 1850s.

Oyster Boat, UW | A. Curtis Photo Company Collection

The Olympia oysters were important to early Washington settlers. The first group of settlers arrived in Puget Sound late in the year of 1845—too late to plant a garden or stock up on food for the winter. Oysters and Native American pickers saved these early settlers from starvation. As evidenced by the generations of shell middens found at coastal village sites, Native Americans in Washington State have a far-reaching history of shellfish harvest and even today Native American aquaculture makes up a major part of the industry.

With the development of Seattle and Tacoma and the completion of the transcontinental railway other insatiable oyster of the development of oyster beds, when Washington State received statehood markets developed. Recognizing the importance in 1889 it became the only state to legalize private ownership of tidelands. Other states hold them in trust.

This unique law allowed Washington shellfish farmers to develop an exceptional industry that could treat its foreshore like agricultural lands.

During this time, the Olympia oyster was used in political oyster feasts to counter any arguments for the changing of the capital city of Olympia to other, arguably more suitable locations, such as Seattle or Tacoma. As Olympia Mayor, Earl Steele, recounted in his 1957 book:

"The location of the capitol was put to a vote of the people and the contest became very spirited. The people of Olympia got their heads together and planned a cam- paign; they arranged for public meetings in many of the most populated points in Eastern Washington, supplied themselves with a goodly quantity of oysters and the battle was on."

Sacking Oysters, 1910, University of Washington | Asahel Curtis Photo Collection

Steele continues, "their arguments why the Capital should remain in Olympia were many and forcefully stated, but the clinching argument was the oyster dinner following the meeting. They created a warmth and friendly spirit and the oysters were so well liked that much publicity was given, not only to the merit of the arguments, but to the merit of the oysters. Olympia won the election, and the oyster dinners were given the credit."

However, by the early 20th century, like the Olympia oysters in San Francisco, the Olympia oysters in Puget Sound were facing pressures from over harvest and pollution. Although methodologies had developed that brought harvesting closer to agriculture, such as creating diked oyster beds (to keep the oysters in water when the tide receded), the Olympia oyster’s natural stocks were in trouble. In a bid to reinvigorate the industry non-native varieties were introduced to Washington waters.

In the 1890s, the larger, faster growing Eastern Oysters, or Virginica oysters, had been introduced from the Eastern American seaboard, but these proved temperamental.

By the 1920s it was common for both men and women of Japanese descent to work in the oyster FJORD Canneries | Special Collection, UW Libraries, UW 5781

By 1900 Japanese labor supplied most of the workers in the oyster industry, replacing Native American and Chinese laborers, not only because these early immigrants were faced with little opportunities and would work cheaply, but also because many Japanese immigrants travelled to Washington to work in oyster production and brought with them knowledge and experience from the highly developed Japanese oyster industry. In 1920, two enterprising oystermen J. Emy Tsukimoto and Joe Miyagi decided to form their own company and introduced oyster seed from Japan. Fry’s 2011 article for The Pacific Northwest Quarterly argues that Tsukimoto and Miyagi must have had economic and/or familial connections back in Japan that provided them with the know how and the oyster seed. Unfortunately, the Tsukimoto and Miyagi were not long in business as the Alien Land Law was passed in Washington State in 1921 – making it illegal for Japanese immigrants to own or lease land. This fast-growing oyster however was a success. It is now the most popular variety harvested in Washington State, but it was quickly renamed the Pacific oyster in pre-WW II Washington to distance itself from its Japanese origins.

Although over 150 years have passed since the first Olympia oysters were shipped from entrepreneurs in pre-statehood Washington to gold miners in San Francisco, this industry has only grown stronger and more lucrative. With an annual farmgate exceeding $108 million, Washington State is the largest producer of hatchery-reared and farmed shellfish in the U.S. As product ships internationally, it is apparent that Washington’s oldest crop is still a favorite.

For more information on how you can get your hands on the Olympia Oyster, head to explorehoodcanal.com and check out the shellfish pages.