Geoduck clams are found throughout coastal British Columbia in each of the management areas from the intertidal zone to depths of at least 110 metres. The clams begin to burrow into the substrate within 40 to 50 days of birth, and they can bury to a depth of 60 cm in two years. Few predators can reach them once they are successful in achieving this depth. A geoduck grows rapidly for the first 10 to 15 years. By that time, it has grown so large that its shell cannot close around it. Recruitment to the fishery begins at age four and by age 12, geoducks are fully vulnerable to harvest. They are harvested individually by divers using a directed water jet called a stinger which loosens the substrate around the clams and allows them to be lifted out. Commercial geoduck harvesters can tell where the clams are buried by their shows the visible exposed tip of a siphon or dimple left in the sand from a retracted siphon, and divers are expert show readers whether by sight when the weather is good or by feel in zero visibility conditions.

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Website: http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/seafood/geoduck-e.htm