Razor Clam harvesting began as a commercial operation as early as the late 1800s. By 1905 there were digging seasons established. In Washington State- mechanical digging was never allowed- so the harvest had to be done by hand shovels. Soon recreational harvesting began in earnest and the clam population began a decline- as did the commercial viability of harvesting for profit. By the 1960s... almost all razor clam harvesting was recreational and finally the beaches were closed to commercial harvesting.
The recreational limit per licensed person is 15 clams now.... and you must wait for the official digging dates. Many people use a 'clam gun'- a tube to catch the critters- but the experienced still prefer a shovel at times. 
We wait anxiously for the Clam Tide to be announced- and rain or shine, light or dark- head out to the beach to in pursuit of our limit of this long time tradition.
(photo credits- Historical- from Jack's Country Store and drawings from WA Fish&Wildlife)
5 comments:
This looks so great. I'm not a fan of seafood, but the rest of the family is, and the clam digs look like so much fun. Even if things fall through and we don't end up moving that way, we plan to make it to a clam dig eventually!
And I love the outfits people used to wear to them. Humans used to be so classy.
Very interesting and cool! I love the pictures too!
Keep it up! (I found you via Twitter)
We used to go razor fishing on the island I'm from (Jersey, in the UK) but we used salt. Pour salt into the hole, wait a few seconds and up pops the razor. You had to be quick to grab them before they disappeared though. It was great fun.
I was in South Korea a couple of years ago at Pusan Beach and there were hundreds of razor clammers armed with small shovels and bags of salt. The vendors on the beach sold salt to the clammers and tourists to try their hand. It was a lot of fun!
This brought back some memories. I grew up in Washington State and remember going clam digging with my family. Love the old pics you posted!
Post a Comment