Olympia oysters are the only oyster species native to the West Coast of North America. However, historical overharvest and environmental stressors reduced the current population to less than five percent of historic numbers throughout Puget Sound. Oysters provide valuable ecosystem services in coastal and estuarine habitats, including filtering water, sequestering nutrients and toxins, and creating structured habitat. Puget Sound is undergoing rapid environmental change, and restoring native species such as the Olympia oyster may provide critical elements of resilience in the marine system. 

The goal of this project is to create a habitat suitability index model for restoring Olympia oysters, including considering how climate change may affect suitable habitat. By compiling and analyzing relevant environmental data, this project will help identify suitable locations for implementing Olympia oyster restoration projects. The Puget Sound Restoration Fund has been working on restoring Olympia oysters for over a decade and is partnering on this project. This research is designed to help enable climate-smart restoration of Olympia Oysters in Puget Sound.