ARCHIVED NEWS RELEASE
This document is provided for archival purposes only. Archived documents
do not reflect current WDFW regulations or policy and may contain factual
inaccuracies.
News release Feb. 15, 2000
MONTESANO - The recreational razor clam season is scheduled to resume this weekend, with digging allowed Saturday, Feb. 19 and Sunday, Feb. 20 on two coastal beaches.
The scheduled opening will be confined to the Twin Harbors beach (Westport, Grayland and North Cove) and the Long Beach Peninsula, said Doug Simons, regional razor clam manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Beaches north of Grays Harbor - including Ocean Shores, Ocean City, Copalis, Iron Springs, Roosevelt Beach, Pacific Beach, Moclips and Kalaloch - will not be open.
Simons said the opening is tentative, pending the results of tests by the Department of Health for marine toxins. Results of those tests will be reported Thursday afternoon, and diggers can call the WDFW Shellfish Hotline at 1-360-796-3215 for updated information.
"Marine toxin readings have been consistently low on those beaches, but it's always a good idea to check the hotline before you head out," Simons said.
Digging is limited to the afternoon and evening hours. Low tide on Saturday, Feb. 19 is 6:27 p.m.; low tide on Sunday, Feb. 20 is 7:10 p.m.
Current licenses for harvesting shellfish and seaweed are good through March 2000. A two-day consecutive sport license costs $6 for residents and non-residents.
Harvesters must keep the first 15 razor clams harvested, regardless of size or condition. Each digger's limit must be kept in a separate container.
No digging is permitted in the quarter-mile wide razor clam reserves, which are marked with signs on 10-foot orange metal poles. The reserves are located at the county line approach on Twin Harbors Beach and 2.8 miles north of the Oysterville approach on Long Beach.