Razor clam diggers had a bonanza year

The coastal razor clam season this past winter and spring got off to a late start, but it turned into a memorable one for more than 300,000 diggers who turned out to seek the highly sought shellfish.

“Long Beach was one of the stars this past season, and at other beaches (Copalis and Mocrocks) it was a little more constrained as far as digging opportunities go,” said Dan Ayres, the head state Fish and Wildlife coastal shellfish manager. “I am pleased as punch with how the season turned out despite the late start.

“We are certainly grateful for how this past season turned out as we could very well have had no season at all if marine toxins stayed above the action cutoff level. Given what could have happened, all three beaches ended up having great digging.”

His reference comes after the entire coast was closed in late May of 2015 when domoic acid – a natural marine toxin produced by certain types of marine algae that can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in sufficient quantities – spiked well above the 20 parts-per-million cutoff level.

Since 1991, when the toxin was first detected on the Pacific Coast, outbreaks of domoic acid have prompted the cancellation of three entire razor-clam seasons in Washington — the last one in 2002-03.

The Twin Harbors Beach never opened this past season as marine toxin levels never dipped below the action level.

“Nobody knows why it stuck around at Twin Harbors, but the good news is all those big clams will still be there this coming fall,” Ayres said.

The preliminary coastwide estimate from Dec. 24 to May 22 was 327,545 digger trips, with more than 4.53 million clams harvested.

The 2014-15 season had 396,807 digger trips with more than 5.49 million clams, which included almost three months of fall digging; 2013-14 had 451,046 with more than 6.2 million; 2012-13 had 420,000 with 6.1 million; 2011-12 had 194,976 with 2.5 million; and 2010-11 had 244,500 with 3.2 million.

From Jan. 7 to May 8, the preliminary postseason estimate showed 187,261 digger trips (162,558 last year) at Long Beach yielded more than 2.61 million clams (2.29 million last year) for an average of 14.0 (14.1) clams per person (the first 15 clams dug regardless of size or condition is a daily limit).

From Dec. 24 to May 21, 69,536 (58,626) digger trips at Copalis saw a harvest of 952,020 (780,625) clams for a 13.7 (13.3) digger average; and from Feb. 19 to May 22, 70,747 (58,739) digger trips at Mocrocks had 965,623 (818,645) clams harvested for a 13.6 (13.9) average.

“There was some blow-back from not digging in May at Long Beach, but we just couldn’t do every day there,” Ayres said. “We did hear a lot of positive feedback and had some really nice-sized clams on all beaches, particularly at Mocrocks, where at times they regularly averaged 5½ to 6 inches.”

This summer, state Fish and Wildlife will conduct razor clam population estimates to gauge what diggers can expect for the 2016-17 season.

“We’ve been in Long Beach since (June 2) working on the razor clam stock assessment for 2016, and so far this beach is looking really good, “Ayres said. “Still a lot of nice clams and signs for a good set of juvenile clams too. I’m quietly hopeful for next year, and we’re still seeing stupendous populations of razor clams, and I can’t believe this keeps on happening year after year.”

The signs are also positive that Kalaloch Beach, which has been closed for an extended duration, could see some digging in the upcoming season.

“We haven’t done the formal assessments at Kalaloch, but it looks like the clams are still there,” Ayres said. “We certainly know there are more clams than what we’ve typically seen at Kalaloch.”

The last time Kalaloch had a season was in 2011-12, when it was open for three days of digging.