Outdoors

POSTED: Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009

Razor clam diggers get go-ahead

The first four-day razor clam dig of the 2009-2010 season has been cleared by health officials to start on Pacific Coast beaches at noon today.

Though all five beaches will be opening during this session, diggers will have just three sectors, Twin Harbors, Long Beach and Copalis, for day one.

On Saturday and Sunday Mocrocks and Kalaloch beach management areas join the roster, but on day four (Monday) only Twin Harbors will be available.

The latest tests for the marine toxin domoic acid found from one to five parts per million levels of the substance in clam tissues from Pacific beaches. The naturally produced compound has hovered in that range in coastal clams and crab for more than a year.

Known to be responsible for several human deaths in more than 100 verified cases, domoic acid is produced by a saltwater alga.

When the contaminant in clam meat is ingested in sufficient amounts it can interfere with functions in the brains of victims. A host of mild to severe symptoms can be provoked by domoic acid including memory loss, prompting the disorder it causes to be called amnesiac shellfish poisoning.

Domoic acid is thought to be the causative agent in several incidents including the deaths of 400 Pacific Coast sea lions in 1998 and unusually aggressive behavior of California sea birds in 1961.

In 1991, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set the maximum safe level of domoic acid in seafood for human consumption at 20 parts per million.

That mark is the current upper limit standard used by the Washington Department of Health in sanctioning opportunities for personal use gathering here.

Close coordination between WDOH, state fish and wildlife and Quinault Nation managers enable real-time marine toxin assessment results to be generated so safe use of razor clams can be assured.

With razor populations at or above last year's levels, state shellfish managers have scheduled four more openings through the end of December barring resurgence in domoic acid levels.

Diggers are advised to check carefully the dates on which individual beaches will be available during each opening. It's also recommended that they obtain reservations for both ferry sailings and overnight accommodations on the coast as well as buying some version of a state shellfish digging license before setting out.

For basic recreational gathering regulations, check pages 126 and 128 of the Fishing in Washington sport pamphlet or log on to: http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/2009/2009sportregs.pdf.

SNOW GOOSE HUNT PASSES

With the promise of robust numbers of gray juveniles in this year's overwintering Fraser-Skagit snow goose population and the renewal of the state's quality hunt program on selected private lands at Fir Island and Stanwood, the stage is set for what should be an excellent hunt this fall.

If you missed out on the opportunity to register in advance to use snow goose quality hunt units, the state fish and wildlife department has set up an on-line system by which you can self-issue your quality hunt use authorization or pass.

In a departure from arrangements for the past three years, hunting units on private lands enrolled in the program by Fir Island and Stanwood growers will be available mostly on a first-come, first-served basis - all except for Saturdays.

Use of quality hunt units on that day was awarded by a pre-season application drawing so hunters from outside the area could be assured of a guaranteed or reserved opportunity when setting out from some distance away.

For local hunters, the quality hunt units will now be available for more spontaneous use depending on the behavior of these highly unpredictable waterfowl.

One catch for hunters on Fir Island is that by agreement with stakeholders there, while hunting for snow geese can take place elsewhere on the island on those days, the quality units will be closed Sundays and Mondays.

However, Stanwood area quality hunt units on Florence Island at the mouth of the Stillagaumish River will be open seven days a week during the season.

The controlling factor for hunting any quality hunt unit is the parking space designated for it. If the parking stall for a specific unit is empty, a hunter may secure the unit for any portion of the day by parking in the space, usually in front of the sign.

It's not legal to camp in a parking space overnight, enter the space or field before the designated hours or leave the area with the car still hording the parking spot.

Other use rules restrict the number of hunters in a unit to no more than four at a time and all must have both the goose management area 1 snow goose hunting authorization as well as the special pass to use quality hunt units.

Saturday parties must be hunting with a person who has proof they were drawn for a unit.

Hunters also must deploy snow goose decoys and abide by safety and road buffer zones rules.

WEB SITES FOR THIS HUNT

For comprehensive information about snow goose quality hunts in Skagit and Snohomish counties, check out:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/game/water/snow_goose/index.htm

If you need to register and obtain a self-issued quality hunt use authorization, log on to:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/goose/quality_hunt/authorization.php

To contact the department regarding snow goose hunting or to send stories and photos of hunting success, e-mail in care of:

snowgoosehunt@dfw.wa.gov.

Doug Huddle, the Herald's outdoors correspondent, is retired from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and has written a weekly hunting and fishing column for the Bellingham Herald since 1983 that appears Fridays. E-mail him at doug.huddle@bellinghamherald.com.