OLYMPIA — Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife shellfish managers this weekend confirmed that final coastal razor clam digs of the season can proceed as planned from Thursday to May 14.
“This last tide series had lots of happy diggers, and we’re anticipating more of the same for this upcoming tide series to close out the season,” said Bryce Blumenthal, a WDFW coastal shellfish biologist.
On all open beaches — Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks, and Copalis — the daily limit is 20 razor clams instead of the usual 15. Each digger’s clams must be kept in a separate container, and all diggers must keep the first 20 clams they dig, regardless of size or condition.
Not all beaches are open for every dig, so diggers are encouraged to make sure their intended destination is open before heading out. The most successful digging occurs within two hours before the listed time of low tide.
Digging is allowed from midnight until noon only on Thursday to May 10. Since low tides on May 11-14 are near or after noon, digging will be allowed from 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. for those specific days only.
The following digs during morning (a.m.) low tides are scheduled (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. on May 11-14 only):
• Thursday, 6:32 a.m.; -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• Friday, 7:10 a.m.; -0.8 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.
• Saturday, 7:49 a.m.; -1.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• Sunday, 8:31 a.m.; -1.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.
• Monday, 9:15 a.m.; -1.5 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• May 9, Tuesday, 10:03 a.m.; -1.3 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks.
• May 10, Wednesday, 10:57 a.m.; -1.0 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis.
• May 11, Thursday, 11:56 a.m.; -0.6 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. only).
• May 12, Friday, 12:59 p.m.; -0.2 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. only).
• May 13, Saturday, 2:03 p.m.; 0.1 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. only).
• May 14, Sunday, 3:03 p.m.; 0.4 feet; Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis (digging allowed 4 a.m. until 4 p.m. only).
WDFW plans to announce tentative digging opportunities in early fall for the 2023-2024 season via the WDFW razor clam webpage.