THIS WEEKEND IS the last shot for crabbing until summer while some adventurous folks can celebrate the New Year while clamming on dry but cold evenings Friday and Saturday at Kalaloch and the other four clamming beaches.
Crabbing ends Monday while shellfish lovers also can stock up with clams this weekend.
Clamming at night
Clam diggers can ring in 2011 with a two-day razor clam dig on coastal beaches during the New Year’s holiday.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife approved the series of evening digs after marine toxin tests showed that the clams on all five coastal razor clam beaches are safe to eat.
Opening dates and evening low tides for the upcoming dig are:
• Friday — 3:40 p.m., (0 ft.), Kalaloch, Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks.
• Saturday — 4:31 p.m., (-0.4 ft.), Kalaloch, Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis and Mocrocks.
Also, Twin Harbors will have a third day of harvest on Sunday:
• Sunday — 5:18 p.m., (-0.7 ft.), Twin Harbors.
No digging will be allowed on any beach before noon.
Diggers should note that low tide on Friday will occur at 3:40 p.m., setting the stage for the first daylight dig of the season.
The weather forecast for Kalaloch is for clear or partly cloudy and cold evenings through the weekend.
Daytime forecast for Friday will be sunny with a high near 42 degrees and east-southeast winds at about 7 mph. It will be mostly clear at night with a low of 25 degrees and a southeast wind at 6 mph becoming clam.
Expect it to be sunny on New Year’s Day with a high close to 42 degrees and partly cloudy at night with a low about 26 degrees.
In early January, WDFW will release a tentative schedule of digging days in early 2011.
As in the past, final approval of those dates will depend on the results of future marine toxin tests.
Under WDFW rules, harvesters may take no more than 15 razor clams and must keep the first 15 taken, regardless of size or condition.
Each digger’s limit must be kept in a separate container.
A license is required for anyone age 15 or older.
Any 2010 annual shellfish/seaweed, razor clam or combination license is still valid.
Licenses can be purchased via the Internet at http://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov, by telephone (1-866-246-9453) or in person at more than 600 license vendors throughout the state.
Washington’s razor clam beaches include:
• Long Beach, which extends from the Columbia River to Leadbetter Point.
• Twin Harbors Beach, which extends from the mouth of Willapa Bay north to the south jetty at the mouth of Grays Harbor.
• Copalis Beach, which extends from the Grays Harbor north jetty to the Copalis River, and includes the Copalis, Ocean Shores, Oyhut, Ocean City and Copalis areas.
• Mocrocks Beach, which extends from the Copalis River to the southern boundary of the Quinault Reservation near the Moclips River, including Iron Springs, Roosevelt Beach, Pacific Beach and Moclips.
• Kalaloch Beach, which extends from the South Beach Campground to Brown’s Point (just south of Beach Trail 3) in the Olympic National Park.
Crabbing to close
All marine areas currently open for recreational winter crabbing will close at sunset Sunday, after which all sport crabbers licensed to fish for crab will have until Feb. 1 to report their winter catch.
State fishing rules require that all sport crabbers submit catch reports for the winter season to WDFW by Feb. 1 — even if they did not catch any crab.
With the end of the winter crab season, which runs from Sept. 7 to Jan. 2, all marine areas will be closed to recreational crabbing until summer 2011.
Sport crabbers should be aware that if they fail to submit a winter catch report, they will receive a $10 fine when they purchase their 2011 crab endorsement, said Rich Childers, WDFW shellfish policy lead.
To submit catch reports, crabbers may send their catch record card to WDFW by mail or file their report on a special webpage on the department’s licensing website.
The mailing address is WDFW CRC Unit, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091. The online reporting system will be available Tuesday through Feb. 1 at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/wdfw/puget_sound_crab_catch.html.