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Oysters & geoducks & clams, oh my!
Shellfish season lures legions of diggers to Puget Sound tideflats
By GREG JOHNSTON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Shellfish gathering is a Puget Sound tradition that is surviving the turn of the millennium despite being stretched as thin as an oyster knife and scrutinized in court more closely than a clam hole watched by a curious kid.
Although seasons are shorter, limits smaller and restrictions more stringent than ever, public beaches on Washington's inland marine waters continue to produce a bounty as popular as ever.
There's no wondering why.
Digging clams and gathering oysters is a soothing activity on the stimulating edge of the sea, where waves lap, gulls squawk, clams squirt, and gravel and grit get under foot and fingernail.
And the best part is that you get to take home the tastiest little morsels from the tideflats.
"The oysters are something to die for," said Pat Hurley of Redmond, a recent Northwest transplant from Baltimore who had never sampled the bounty of the sound before visiting Dosewallips State Park in April.
"They were so big and so healthy. It was an experience. It was wonderful. We saw other folks who got geoducks and Dungeness crabs. Most everybody we met were natives and I was just overwhelmed by their friendliness."
That any clams or oysters still exist on Washington's beaches is a testament to their resiliency. Many beaches, mostly in urban areas, have been closed for years by state and local health officials because of pollution -- either high bacteria levels or traces of toxic elements.
Paralytic shellfish poisoning, a naturally occurring toxin that has gotten more pervasive in recent years, also prompts regular beach closures.
Clams and oysters also have become a key issue in the ongoing debate about the rights of Western Washington Native American tribes. Federal courts have affirmed the tribes' treaty right to half the shellfish available for harvest; most recently the courts affirmed the tribes' right to shellfish on cultivated or enhanced tidelands.
That has reduced the amount of shellfish available to the general public, prompting shorter seasons, smaller limits and more restrictions. At the same time, it has forced the state to do more extensive surveys of clam populations, allowing better management of shellfish populations overall.
All these developments mean shellfish gatherers must make sure they choose beaches that are open, safe and public, and that they follow the regulations.
State health officials say many people do not take the necessary precautions.
"There is a significant number of people who do harvest on closed beaches, mostly urban beaches," said Wayne Clifford, a state Department of Health shellfish expert. "We are trying to develop programs with King and Thurston counties to reach out into the community and provide an understanding."
Anecdotal evidence indicates much of the harvest on closed beaches is by ethnic communities that, because of language or cultural barriers, might not be aware of pollution danger.
Warning signs are posted at many beaches closed because of pollution. If you have any concerns about any beaches -- posted or otherwise -- check with your local county health department and/or the state Health Department.
An excellent and popular state pamphlet, "Puget Sound Public Shellfish Sites," has just been revised and reprinted for the first time since 1988 (see information box).
"We've got a lot better information, on more beaches, and it should really open up a lot more opportunity for people to find recreational shellfish beaches," Clifford said.
In addition to improved maps, the pamphlet includes excellent sections on avoiding dangers and on shellfish varieties.
These include the delectable steamer clams that are prime quarry of the recreational shellfish gatherers -- native littlenecks, Manila littlenecks and butters, as well as the large, choice Pacific oyster.
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But geoducks, those massive and crude-looking clams peculiar to Puget Sound, may be the tastiest of all. They are much less abundant, however, and are found deep in mud at only the lowest tides, and are best left to seasoned, no-quit diggers with know-how.
Cockles and horse clams, both of which can get several inches long, are less desirable but often gathered for chowder.
The prime shellfish season is spring and early summer, when extreme low tides coincide with daylight hours and well before oysters turn mushy and lose their table quality as they prepare to spawn.
State shellfish biologists say oyster populations are doing well this year on most traditional beaches, but hard-shell clam populations are noticeably down -- for unknown reasons -- on the prime beaches of Hood Canal.
"It's not exactly a bumper year for clams," said Bill Wood, biologist at the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Brinnon lab. "It looks like some mortality factor has affected all age classes of clams. Indications are it is from environmental conditions, but it's a tough thing to track."
There are enough clams for good digging on the better Hood Canal beaches, although seasons this year are shorter -- the prime tidelands of Potlatch State Park, for example, are already closed. However, it does not appear that clams on beaches outside Hood Canal have declined.
Once you're on the beach, finding clams is not difficult if you look for suitable habitat. The rule of thumb is that you need a minus tide for good digging; the lower the better because it exposes more tideland.
Hard-shell clams prefer strata of mixed mud, rock and sand, and are usually within six inches of the surface. A small shovel or hand rake works well to uncover them. Native peoples used digging sticks, and they still work well.
If you don't find clams at first, move around until you locate good numbers. By regulation, the clams must be at least 1.5 inches at their widest point. A good measuring device is a short section sawed off a 1.5-inch (inside diameter) PVC pipe.
You must replace any short clams in the hole, which must be refilled when you are done digging.
Oysters are easy to find, but shucking them, as you must on Hood Canal beaches, is at first something like opening a rusty can with a cheap can opener. It's a good idea to watch an experienced shucker before you attempt it; look for some fellow shucker on the beach who looks like a veteran.
You will need an oyster knife and a pair of gloves. You'll find the oysters on the surface, sometimes singly but mostly attached in clusters. The oyster shell usually has a cupped side and flat side. Hold it so the cupped side is down, and insert the oyster knife between the shells -- it's not always easy to find that seam -- about one-third of the way from the hinge.
Try to keep the knife flat against the flat side of the shell. Once inserted, wiggle the knife blade back and forth sideways to sever the oyster's abductor muscle. The shell will open slightly; twist the knife carefully to pry the shell open, then make minor cuts to free the meat from the cupped side of the shell.
Be careful! You don't want to cut yourself and ruin your day as you pursue an old Puget Sound tradition.
Shellfish notesThe fine booklet "Public Shellfish Sites in Puget Sound" was recently updated and will soon be available at county health department offices and offices of the Department of Fish and Wildlife. The state Department of Health also plans in the near future to put it on its Web site at www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/sf/sfhome.htmThe Web site also lists beaches closed because of paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Check it, or the agency's shellfish phone hot line -- 800-562-5632 -- before any trip to gather clams. The basic limit for hard-shell clams is 40, with a minimum size of 1.5 inches. The basic limit for oysters is 18; on Hood Canal tidelands, oysters must be shucked on the beach and the shells left. Be sure to check the state's 1999-2000 "Fishing in Washington" rules pamphlet for season dates, which vary by beach. It is available at sporting goods stores and on the Fish and Wildlife Department's Web site at: www.wa.gov/wdfw You will need a state shellfish license: $7 for ages 15 to 69, $5 for 70 and older. It is not required for 14 and younger. |
Best clam and oyster beaches along Puget Sound
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