Bad News For Razor Clamming

[Born to be Wild]

This is a post by Clamman from the LIG forum:

Dan,

Well that might be an understatement of the year! New test results for the Newport area (Agate Beach) came back at a whopping 287ppm !!!!
Waldport was 175ppm and the North Umpqua spits were 87ppm.

The Clatsop beaches are still dropping but will not be safe before the July 15th closure. So the best we can hope for in the Northern part of the state is October 1 if everything stays clean.

Newport, on the other hand, is at levels that are down right scary

When Clatsop beach had levels that high in 1998 it stayed closed for well over a year. At these levels in Newport I would suspect the same kind of time frame.

For reference, back in 1987 when the first case of Domoic acid on the West Coast made people very sick, with memory loss and fatalities in British Columbia the mussels had levels ranging from 160ppm-180ppm.

Sorry for the bad news.


Clam <font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">What a big disappointment!

Dan

[fishbait]

graemlins/berry.gif

This is the worst news that I have had in a long time.

BUT,

When it is safe to re-open it, there should be some nice razors....

[Norm]

With the water warming up, the levels probably won't drop for much longer. Oregon tends to overharvest razors anyway, so maybe this isn't such a bad thing. Hopefully Washington levels will be low enough to have some beaches open this winter. Nothing like clamming in big surf in December :grin: .

[Bounty Hunter]

I totally agree with Fishbait and Norm.

I love the Razors, and an extended closure will make the next harvest that much sweeter.

[Sore Back]

Thanks Dan, I got the news. I check the Oregon and Washington sites weekly. In Washington it looks like a couple ao tests fell within range for the southern beaches. Just have to wait for a decision.

Had Netarts bay clams for dinner last night. They always work in a pinch.

[jokester]

Yeah, i'm kinda bummed about the whole deal too. I've been looking forward to start clamming since last year!! It's for our own good, but still a pretty big disappointment. :depressed:

[Norm]

Washington has a pretty good page on how they manage the manage the razor clam harvest. Washington razor clam page (http://www.wa.gov/wdfw/fish/shelfish/razorclm/razor11.htm)
The Demonic acid levels are much lower on Washington beaches, but still a little high. It looks like Washington may get a fall season in this year. My parents have a place near Copalis and the clams are generally larger than the ones you get in Oregon.