Skip the clam digging. Washington coastline off limits to shellfish harvest, for now

If you’re planning to head out to the beach this weekend for some clam digging, you’ll need to ditch the harvesting part. That’s because shellfish harvesting is off limits for now, as health officials have closed Washington coasts and bays due to high levels of biotoxins.

“This is very serious,” said Jerry Borchert, who manages the marine biotoxin program for the Department of Health. “Things are still changing quickly as we get more samples in our lab.”

Borchert and his team are working overtime to deal with samples coming in, including those from commercial growers. Right now, they’re most concerned about the coastal areas of Willapa Bay along with Grays Harbor.

Borchert says the high biotoxin levels are a result of warmer temperatures, creating the right conditions for this kind of toxic bloom, and for the type of plankton that produces paralytic shellfish poison.

“And the shellfish are really good at filtering them out of the water," Borchert said. "So if you have a lot of these cells, the shellfish then becomes toxic.”

Borchert notes this is one of the earliest closures in a long time. Longer, warmer days has helped expand toxic algae’s growing season, requiring earlier harvest closures than usual.

Borchert also recommends throwing away shellfish harvested during Memorial Day weekend. Cooking shellfish does not remove the toxins.

The Department of Health said two Washington residents are reportedly ill from shellfish harvested in Oregon. Currently there are no reports of any illness stemming from harvests here.

Oregon closed its entire coastline to mussel harvesting last Saturday. Twenty people there became ill with paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Correction notice, Monday, 6/3/2024: A previous version of this article mentioned Oregon's closure affecting shellfish harvesting. It has been corrected to reflect the closure affects mussel harvesting only.