To date, testing and research have not identified a viable and effective pest management solution and more funding is needed to find a burrowing shrimp control method that ensures the continued prosperity for Southwest Washington’s farming community.
In the 2020 supplemental budget, the state legislature provided $650,000 of the Model Toxics Control operating account to WSDA for research grants to assist with the development of an integrated pest management plan to address the problem and facilitate continued shellfish cultivation on tidelands. In 2021, the Legislature provided another $1.29 million from MTCA for additional research. An additional $1.8 million was provided in the 2023-25 biennium.
Study in collaboration with NOAA and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to refine newly developed remote sensing capabilities to efficiently monitor burrowing shrimp densities in intertidal tidelands of Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.
Field study using Rhodamine WT Dye to estimate movement of chemicals on shellfish beds to non-treated areas.
Field study to sample shrimp densities with coring techniques, oyster position relative to sediment surface, size frequency of live and dead oysters, sediment organic content and grain size.
Development of an Integrated Pest Management plan framework that can be used by commercial shellfish farms for ongoing burrowing shrimp management in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor.
Laboratory and field study to test chemicals for control of burrowing shrimp to be used in the development of an integrated pest management plan.
Continue field studies to test chemical and mechanical control of burrowing shrimp.
Conduct a field study with objectives that address causes and consequences of variability in burrowing shrimp populations and the impact on oyster performance.
Test the impacts of mechanical control for burrowing shrimp through pre- vs post-treatment comparisons and by comparing nearby treated and untreated beds.
Conduct review and analysis of the IPM Working Group’s current resources and develop stakeholder communications and coordination strategy.
Provide a facilitated update of industry led Best Management Practices that include an IPM to address burrowing shrimp.
Assist with the Ecosystem Based Management Collaborative as it relates to the IPM work.
Testing of vibration.
Biological control — Screening micro organisms to control burrowing shrimp.
Floating culture — Optimization of floating arrays for alternative oyster culture.
Continued testing of vibration — Efficacy and non-target effects ofmechanical control (compaction, vibration) for burrowing shrimp.
Nano bubble delivery technology — A systemic product development approach for micro/nanobubble delivery mechanism of ecologically safe agents for burrowing shrimp control.
Mechanisms for shifting distribution of shrimp — Size-specific performance of burrowing shrimp across tideflat conditions and leverage points for management.
Trip to Japan to learn from researchers.
IPM working group communications services.
Testing organically certified pesticides as possible commercially acceptable control of adult and juvenile burrowing shrimp.
Assessing juvenile and pre-adult burrowing shrimp, as well as a non-target fish species, in the assessment of potential chemistries for the treatment of oyster beds.
