Washington’s razor clam season ends Sunday, but Oregon’s is just getting started.
Razor clam digging is open on the northern Oregon beaches for the first time in seven months.
Digging began Saturday between the Columbia River mouth and Tillamook Head. Sampling finally found levels of the marine toxin domoic acid below the safety limit for two consecutive weeks.
The clam population is less than a year ago, but the individual clams in the popular Clatsop Beach area are very large, said Matt Hunter, a state shellfish biologist.
The limit is the first 15 clams dug. Each digger must have their own container and dig their own clams.
A three-day non-resident Oregon shellfish license costs $19. An annual non-resident shellfish license costs $28. Oregon’s beaches close to razor clam digging on July 15.
Clam digging in Washington will be closed beginning Monday, then reopen in autumn.
