BRINNON — The state Department of Health has declared a portion of the Dosewallips State Park tidelands safe for shellfish harvesting after it had been under a health advisory for the last 23 years.

Seventy acres of tideland, marked by orange plastic stakes, were taken off the health advisory list March 31 after water samples showed the area to be safe for harvesting under all conditions, the Health Department announced Tuesday.

The Health Department used 30 water samples taken over the last five years to warrant the move.

The rest of the park’s tidelands, particularly near the Dosewallips River’s mouth, remain under an advisory, said Greg Combs, state public health advisor.

Water quality in the tidelands has improved because it now has fewer seals than it once did, a decline attributed to hunting by orcas, as well as because of less pollution from nearby septic tanks, Combs said.

Seals contribute to fecal coliform bacteria contamination through their waste, and the area was a popular spot for them until about five years ago when orcas began hunting more in the Hood Canal, Combs said.

“There used to be 300 [seals] up there,” he said. “I can’t say that they’re gone, but there’s certainly a lot less.”

The area near the river’s mouth remains a problem, Combs said, because of bacteria washed downstream from leaking septic tanks.

He said he doesn’t think that any more of the park’s tidelands will be taken off the advisory list in the next couple of years.

Shellfish licenses can be purchased at sporting goods stores, Combs said.

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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsula dailynews.com.