Local razor clam diggers will have until December 23 to keep 20 clams on Washington beaches as the limit will return to 15 on Dec. 30, 2021. (Terry Otto/The Columbian)
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced a tentative schedule for the fall razor clam season set to begin in early October.
However, local razor clam aficionados may feel left out.
Citing poor clam numbers, the department has only scheduled one dig for Long Beach this fall season.
The beaches north of Long Beach have excellent numbers of razors, and there are plenty of digs available at the Mocrocks and Copalis beaches. WDFW is working with staff at Olympic National Park to assess possible digging dates on Kalaloch beach.
Final approval of all scheduled openings will depend on results of the marine toxin tests, which are generally conducted about a week before a dig is scheduled to begin.
The department released the proposed seasons to give the public time to plan their trips, and to allow the public to comment on the proposed seasons and digs. State shellfish managers are seeking public input on management options, including scheduling for spring digs.
Comments on the spring digs can be sent via email to razorclams@dfw.wa.gov.
Based on beach surveys conducted this past summer, WDFW estimates the razor clam population on most Washington’s beaches has increased significantly from last season, which means more days of digging this year.
The exception was Long Beach, an area that is recovering after a decline in clam survival.
According to Dan Ayres, the coastal shellfish manager for the WDFW, the clam population along Long Beach needs time to recover from the devastating effects of the high water pouring out of the Columbia River in 2017.
“It was the highest flows coming out of the Columbia in about the last 25 years,” Ayres said.
The result is what Ayres described as a “gap” year.
“Lots of fresh water and low salinity wiped out a whole year class of clams,” Ayres said. “Not only did it wipe out the clams, it affected the food they really depend on.”
He explains that all that fresh water pouring out of the Columbia is pushed north along Long Beach by the prevailing ocean currents. Only the far northern portion of the peninsula was unaffected. The area from Oysterville north was good for clams last year, but the rest of the beach suffered.
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Clam diggers needn’t panic, though. This fall season is likely to simply be a bump in the road. The clams should recover soon.
“That’s the nice thing about razor clams, they are pretty quick to rebound,” added Ayres.
In fact, Ayres reports the beach has good numbers of clams, but they are all small.
“Eighty-seven percent of the clams on Long Beach are under 3 inches, and 75 percent are less than 2 inches,” he said. “Things should improve by the spring, in time for the clam festival in Long Beach. We need to give them time to grow.”
The Long Beach Razor Clam Festival will be held on April 21, 2019.
One thing that does give Ayres pause is that this winter is predicted to be an El Niño winter. That brings with it the threat that conditions could foster the kinds of algae that produce domoic acid, the toxin that causes Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning.
When domoic acid levels get dangerously high in the clams, the department is forced to close razor clamming until the toxins fall to within safe levels. The only way that happens is if the clams grow large enough to dilute the levels of toxins in their system.
High levels of domoic acid in clams has repeatedly caused clamming closures, some of them extended, at times over the past 20 years.
The only fall dig scheduled for Long Beach is on Saturday, Dec. 22.
“One reason to do a December dig is that the clams should have time to grow,” Ayres said. “This way diggers can get some razors before the holidays.”
“Also, we can see how many calms there are. The clammers really help us out that way.”
These fall and early winter digs are during evening and night time tides. Clammers hit the beaches armed with their usual clamming gear along with high-powered lanterns and flashlights. They use the lights to expose the “shows,” which are small circular dimples in the sand that indicate the presence of a razor clam.
Once the shows are located, clam diggers pull the razors from the sand with clamming shovels or clam guns. The limit is 15 clams, and each clammer must dig his own clams and keep them in a container separate from other diggers.
For those clammers who cannot wait until December, there are lots of opportunities for people who are willing to drive north. Ayres pointed to the Grayland Beaches north of Grays Harbor.
“It’s a bit of a drive, but if you really need to dig some razor clams, they’re available,” adds Ayres.
