Oregon Sea Grant

There are many opportunities for seafood exporters to earn substantial profit in Asian markets. The trade in live shellfish exports to China could be especially lucrative. In many respects, Oregon's shellfish industry is well positioned to meet this demand. However, due to certain impediments, interested parties remain largely unable to establish effective means of competing in the Chinese marketplace.

At the request of Oregon Sea Grant, a project was undertaken to provide stakeholders with recommendations for the continuing development of live shellfish export capacity in Oregon. The project was carried out by two investigators in three parts under the direction of Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan, Oregon Sea Grant Extension veterinarian at Oregon State University. Investigations consisted of reviews of literature on current live shellfish shipping practices, research of the prevailing export procedures and the economic and regulatory environments, and visits to sites of special interest and interviews with representative stakeholders.

Findings from this joint investigation formed the basis of this report.