Shellfish license, tag requirements clarified

OLYMPIA-- People gathering shellfish during the first three months of this year are reminded that they need to purchase a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife interim recreation license.

A separate external wearable validation tag for shellfish gatherers currently is not available due to a shortage of the special waterproof paper used for the tags. The wearable tags are expected to be shipped to license dealers and available to recreational users in February.

Although shellfish harvesters are encouraged to wear the external validation tags once they become available, their use will not be required until April 1 when the new annual WDFW recreational fishing and hunting license cycle starts.

In the meantime, the required one-time three-month interim license, which covers all fishing and hunting activity from January 1 through March 31, is available at WDFW offices and most recreational license dealers statewide. It sells for $6.