• Cluster of Olympia oysters. Photo: Susie Fork
  • Oyster restoration structures under water, San Fransisco Bay. Photo: Marilyn Latta, California State Coastal Conservency
  • Oyster Restoration with seeded clutch, Eld Inlet. Photo: Puget Sound Restoration Fund.
  • Monitoring oyster restoration, Humbolt Bay. Photo: David Couch
  • Native oyster bed, Nootka Sound, British Columbia. Photo: Brian Kingzett.
  • Researchers monitoring oysters along transect, San Fransisco Bay. Photo: Anna Deck.
  • Spreading juvenile Olympia oysters, Henderson Inlet. Photo: Emmett O’Connell, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission.
  • Crew with shell bags, Suquamish Tribe, Dyes Inlet. Photo: Puget Sound Restoration Fund.
  • Olympia oysters settled on Pacific oyster shell in Swinomish Tribe restoration project, Sakgit Bay. Photo: Julie Barber
  • Oysters being relocated to Valino Island. Photo: South Slough National Esturaine Research Reserve.
  • Oyster restoration as part of a living shorelines project in San Fransisco Bay. Photo: California State Coastal Conservancy
  • Cultured Olympia oysters on clam shells staked into the mud, Elkhorn Slough. Photo: Elkhorn Slough National Esturaine Research Reserve.
  • Bahia San Quintin, Baja California, where Olympia oysters have been found in abundance. Photo: Julio Lorda Solorzano.
  • Monitoring restoration project in Newport Bay. Photo: Danielle Zacherl.
  • Tide rises over oysters recruited to restoration project in Newport Bay. Photo: Danielle Zacherl.

Welcome to the Native Olympia Collaborative

Along shorelines from British Columbia to Baja California, discerning eyes can find a unique treasure tucked into the nooks and crannies of our nearshore environment. This local gem is the Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida), the only oyster native to North America’s temperate West Coast. Once present in large beds along our coast, populations of this small filtration powerhouse were decimated from overharvest, pollution and habitat degradation. Yet remnants remain. And with a series of boosts from creative, committed researchers, restoration practitioners and shellfish growers, Olympia oyster populations and the critical structural habitat they provide are on the rise. Read on to learn more about the cross-cutting research, restoration and education that we, the Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative (NOOC), have underway!

Story Map

More than 47 restoration projects have been implemented on the West Coast. Read about them in this interactive story map.

View Story Map

Olys in the News

  • Oyster recycling in OC!

    NPR reporter Jill Replogle discusses how Orange County is turning restaurant oyster shells into living barriers against coastal erosion. Read full article.

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