YAQUINA BAY, Ore. — Miguel Correo Ruiz, a dock foreman, drapes long yellow ropes stuffed with oyster shells over a piece of wood and deep into the water.

A dozen baby oysters attached to these "mother" shells will spend the next several years growing in the bay. After they are harvested and shucked, the shellfish will be sent to places as near as Jonathan's Oyster Bar in downtown Salem, Ore., and as far away as Taiwan.

The millions of oysters sold yearly by the farm — the largest commercial oyster farm in Oregon — are a mere cocktail for the nation's appetite for seafood.

Seafood consumption in the United States has grown from 12.5 pounds of fish and shellfish per capita in 1980 to a record 16.6 pounds in 2004, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"At the present time, we cannot meet the demands for oysters and other shellfish in this country," said Chris Langdon, a professor of fisheries at Oregon State University's Hatfield Marine Science Center. "We import shellfish from overseas. And as the population grows, there is going to be an increased demand for shellfish as well as other seafood."

Langdon runs a program through Oregon State University to breed the best oysters — the plumpest and most productive of the bunch.

The "broodstock" — the best adult oysters that are capable of being spawned — are sent to the Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery in Netarts Bay to collect the oyster seeds.

Oregon Oyster Farms takes millions of those oyster seeds, dumps them in a warm-water tank and gives them five days to attach to a "mother" shell. Then, they are moved to the bay until harvest time.

"Every generation of selection is going to further improve the yields or production of oysters," Langdon said. "So now, after two generations of selection, we've got improved yields by 34 percent."

Next year, Langdon hopes to test oysters for the best taste and appearance.

"Because the public have not been given an opportunity to see animals of different colors and shapes and tastes, they don't know which particular color or shape or taste they like," he said. "So there is a lot of opportunity ... for individual growers to develop their own boutique oysters."

Langdon's program is a boon to Oregon Oyster Farms, which cannot keep up with demand.

The company supplies 80 percent of restaurants in Lincoln County, Ore. Other customers include Jonathan's Oyster Bar, Portland seafood restaurants, a chain of restaurants in Texas and Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City.

Orders to Japan and Taiwan have grown through the years as well, said Tom Ragghianti, a co-owner of the farm.

Unlike most farms where the crop's success is apparent, oysters are hidden most of their life.

"You never really know what you have and where it is at," said Marcia Dodson, a sales manager at Oregon Oyster Farms. "We assume everything is good and great, but until Miguel goes out and harvests one, do we know for sure what we have."

Given that oysters spend their entire lives underwater, the quality of their water is a major factor for oyster health and production. That is precisely why locally grown shellfish should be paramount to consumers, seafood experts say.

"I wanted to go with (Oregon Oyster Farms) because they are the freshest you can get," said Tito Baez, owner of Jonathan's Oyster Bar. "They come right out of the bay and come straight here."