Winter 2013
Video: Willapa Bay Oysters
“Willapa Bay Oysters” is a seven-part video documentary series by Keith Cox, sharing the stories of the oyster men and women of Willapa Bay, in Washington State.
» More ...Oysters
Winter 2013
The Community of the Oyster
On a Saturday night in late August, the oyster community of Willapa Bay has gathered in the Raymond Theater to watch themselves on the screen. Local boy Keith Cox had gone off to Hollywood, but then returned to document his home and the life of Willapa Bay and its oystering.
Every seat in the elegant old theater is full, and the room is buzzing.
Cox is premiering the eighth in a series of documentaries on the bay, on oyster farming, on the oystermen themselves. What started out as an innocent project intended to summarize the industry has led to over 130 interviews, over 350 hours … » More …
Spring 2004
Lonely, Beautiful, and Threatened—Willapa Bay
Willapa Bay is the largest estuary between San Francisco and Puget
Sound. It boasts one of the least-spoiled environments and the
healthiest salmon runs south of Canada. It produces one in every four
oysters farmed in the United States and is a favorite stop for tens of
thousands of migratory birds. And it's in trouble. » More ...
Summer 2006
Eating well to save the Sound
The Puget Sound region's 3.8 million population is expected to increase to 5.2 million within the next 15 years. If Puget Sound is to survive that growth, we must change our lives. That, and eat more shellfish. » More ...
Fall 2008
Reconsidering the oyster
FOR AN OYSTER LOVER, speeding down the Willapa River in an open boat toward Willapa Bay and its oyster beds must be like approaching the Celestial City. Even if it is cold for May, and gray, and spitting rain, everyone in the boat is smiling beatifically.
Approximately 15 percent of the oysters consumed in the United States come from Willapa Bay, just north of the mouth of the Columbia River. Ten thousand acres of the bay are devoted to oyster farming. Coast Seafood, whose CFO Kay Cogan ’79 and operations manager Tim Morris are escorting me to oyster heaven, is the largest oyster producer in … » More …