Obtaining Gaper Clams

June 8, 2017

Question: I have a question regarding digging for and obtaining gaper clams. I know the daily bag limit is 10 clams per person. Now, I’m pretty sure you know how hard it is to dig for these clams, so if I’m clamming with my friends, can we assist each other to reach our limits? I’m confused because last year while with friends digging for clams, we were checked by a Fish and Wildlife officer. He just checked our licenses, counted the total quantity that my friends and I had acquired and then sent us on our way. However, this year I heard you can’t help each other. Did they change the regulation or was it always that way? I would hate to get a ticket due to ignorance. (Nam T.)

Answer: As long as all of you were in possession of valid fishing licenses, it would be permissible to help each other as long as each person is retrieving their own clams and each person is involved in the entire process of digging for their own clams. Where you could run into a problem is if one person digs up and retrieves more than 10 clams and “shares” his additional catch among the group. Once a person has dug up and possesses a daily bag limit, he or she must stop assisting other members of the group. This is important because if the individual possesses a limit, he or she is no longer able to attempt to take any more.

Before setting out to harvest gaper clams or any other species of shellfish, please first check the California Department of Public Heath shellfish hotline at (800) 553-4133. This recording is available 24/7, is updated frequently and will tell you about any health concerns or health-related harvest closures in effect for shellfish and finfish in California ocean waters.

dint answer the question of 'did they change the reg or was it always that way?'   

You could eliminate the problems above by going to Humboldt bay where the limit is 25 and they are easy to dig up.  It usually takes me about an hour to dig a limit.