SEAWATER and SUNSHINE
Washington’s Hamma Hamma River owes its interesting moniker to the Coast Salish, a Native American tribe that lived along its banks. According to local lore, hamma hamma means “stinky stinky”—a reference to the salmon carcasses that filled the river each spawning season.
But for adventurous eaters up and down the West Coast, the name means something else entirely: fresh, delicious oysters.
“Our oysters don’t need anything but
clean seawater and sunshine,” says Lissa James Monberg. She’s a fifth-generation shellfish farmer at the Hama Hama Oyster Company in Lilliwaup, just west of Seattle—and she’s downplaying the tough, wet work required to raise and harvest shellfish commercially. Mon-
berg and her brothers took over the family business a decade ago. Today, they employ about 30 people, and Hama Hama oysters are a prized delicacy in restaurants and markets throughout the region.
Dominated by federal wilderness and carefully managed timberland, the Olympic Peninsula is still a wild landscape. The eleven rivers that tumble from the interior are among the most pristine streams on the West Coast, bringing cold, clean water that’s critical to growing healthy oysters. Oysters are filter feeders—they get microscopic nutrients from seawater. If that water is polluted, the oysters grow- ing in it can get sick. “It can be scary— we really rely on other people to help us keep the water clean and the ocean safe
edible conservation hamma hamma river olympic peninsula, washington
for food production,” says Monberg. Last year, The Trust for Public Land helped protect more than 8,000 acres of working forest along Hood Canal from further development. The deal was good news for the timber industry, a corner- stone of the region’s economy—and for shellfish. “Timberland is a safer bet than development,” says Monberg. She’d rather contend with logging than septic tanks or farm runoff. “It’s harvested on a 40– to 60–year rotation, which means it’s quiet most of the time.” If you love oysters, Monberg says, you
have a job to do. “Each of our customers is a potential advocate for clean water,” she says. “By protecting habitat you’re also protecting a successful, sustainable business that ties together love of place, environmentalism, and quality of life.”
18 · LAND&PEOPLE · SPRING/SUMMER 2016
wyoming aero photography
jenn repp
jeff scott shaw
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