OLYMPIA — After recent test results of razor clams in Long Beach showed high levels of domoic acid, state health officials and shellfish managers closed Washington’s ocean beaches to razor clam digging Wednesday until further notice.
The announcement came on the final day of a scheduled six-day opening and stopped digging at Long Beach, Twin Harbors in the Westport area and Copalis. The next tentative opening is Oct. 31, with many more digs possible between now and the end of the year, but as always, dependent on toxicity tests.
“State shellfish managers will consider openings tentatively scheduled to start October 31, depending on the results of upcoming marine toxin tests and public health officials’ ongoing monitoring of COVID-19 trends,” said Larry Phillips, WDFW’s coastal region director.
WDFW Coastal Shellfish Biologist Zach Forster, who works out of the Willapa Bay field office, said the Department of Health tests concluded increased levels of the harmful toxin, surpassing the 20 parts-per-million safety threshold. The WDFW subsequently made the decision to suspend razor clam digs until the toxin levels returned to a suitable level.
Domoic acid is a natural toxin produced by certain types of marine algae and can be harmful or even fatal if consumed in high enough quantities.
“We got word from Department of Health that based on some screening tests done from Friday to Tuesday, there were clams and sea water that was showing increased levels of domoic acid through the weekend. So their prediction was that we could very well either reach or exceed that 20 ppm closure threshold by Wednesday,” he said. “So the decision to protect public health was made that not digging clams on Wednesday was the best decision.”
No further information was available as to when the WDFW will allow for future razor clam digging to commence. Forster said they were working through Thursday night to get updated samples to the state Department of Health for further testing.
“We’re going to be sampling for the Department of Health late tonight and they’ll have official results on Monday to see where we are at,” he said. “Razor clams have a propensity to hang on to domoic acid for quite awhile depending on the time of year. We’ll really know Monday where we are at and go from there. We’re going to do our best to test and open safe and orderly. We’ve got a record number of clams and we want people out there digging them.”
The department plans to make an announcement next week on additional digs.
More information about domoic acid, as well as current levels at all ocean beaches, can be found on WDFW’s domoic acid webpage at wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/shellfish/razorclams/domoic_acid.html.
