The wild geoduck fishery in Washington State is jointly managed by the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Puget Sound Treaty Indian Tribes. DNR manages the submerged aquatic lands in which wildstock geoduck grow, and offers at public auctions the right for private companies and individuals to harvest specific quantities from specific areas. DNR developed a "low effect" Endangered Species Act habitat conservation plan (HCP) to ensure that geoduck harvest activities under the state's management are in compliance with the ESA.

A low effect HCP is one that NOAA’s Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determine to have minor or negligible effects on federally listed, proposed, or candidate species and their habitats covered under the HCP. Work conducted under a low effect HCP is determined to have minor or negligible effects on other environmental values or resources. The 50-year permit authorizes the incidental take of covered species associated with management of the state’s commercial geoduck fishery in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.