Seafood in Washington State
Salmon
Pacific salmon come in six varieties: chinook (a.k.a. king), coho, sockeye, chum, pink, and steelhead. The first three are most often found in markets and on menus.
Dungeness Crab
This crab gets its name from the city of Dungeness on the Olympic Peninsula. Recreational crabbers pull in more than 1 million pounds each year; commercial fishers haul in double that.
Oysters
California prospectors fueled Washington’s oyster rush in the mid-1800s. Today we’re the top US producer of the bivalves.
Geoduck
Some 109 million geoduck (“GOO-ee-duck”) are burrowed in Puget Sound. Each weighs 1 to 3 pounds and can live to age 146.
Produce in Washington State
Rhubarb
Pierce County grows about half the country’s rhubarb; Sumner is the “Rhubarb Pie Capital of the World.”
Rainier Cherries
These yellow-red cherries, which ripen in June and July, were developed in 1952 as a cross between the Bing and the Van.
Spearmint Oil
With 17,000 minty acres, we lead the nation in spearmint oil production. One 55-gallon drum of oil can flavor 5 million sticks of gum.
Lentils
More than 56,000 acres here are devoted to lentils. Pullman hosts the National Lentil Festival in August.
Apples
Between 10 and 12 billion of nine apple varieties are picked here annually, enough to circle the globe 29 times.
Hops
Fertile Yakima Valley accounts for 75 percent of the U.S.'s hop acreage. Two-thirds of the valley’s crop is exported.
Lavender
Sequim, the “Lavender Capital of North America,” grows more than 110,000 lavender plants each year and hosts a July festival all about the flower.
Chanterelles
Porcini, matsutake, fiddlehead ferns and sea beans: just some of the wild edibles that grace our menus.
Red Rasberries
More than 92 percent of the nation’s red raspberries ripen here in June and July and late August through September.
Read 7 Iconic Washington Food Experiences.
Read Farm-to-Table Restaurants in Washington.
