KAYAK POINT — Researchers found that restarting public clam digging at the popular Kayak Point Park beach isn’t a realistic option right now.
Seeding the beach with young clams to bolster the population could allow for digging in the future, but getting the tiny clams and managing what would likely be a short, busy season could prove tricky.
The Pacific Shellfish Institute and Stillaguamish River Clean Water District joined forces over the summer to study clam populations at Kayak Point. Biologists wanted to learn if the beach could be reopened for public digging, or seeded with clam larvae and reopened in the future. The water district, supported by annual fees from homeowners, provided about $9,000 for the study.
Biologists Aimee Christy and Mary Middleton finished a report in December and submitted it to Snohomish County Surface Water Management.
Recreational clam digging along Port Susan is limited to private tidelands between Warm Beach and Kayak Point. There’s no public beach nearby that allows for harvesting clams. Kayak Point used to be a popular location for digging, but clam seasons were closed there in 2002 after the shellfish population plummeted.
The minimum length for a clam season is two weeks. There aren’t enough clams to support that long of a season at Kayak Point, according to the study.
Seasons are determined by the population of Manila and native littleneck clams. At Kayak Point, where the Tulalip Tribes have fishing rights, it would be based on how many clams could be sustainably collected, divided between tribal and public harvests.
The allowable harvest of clams likely would be depleted in seven or eight days, the study found.
In July, 16 volunteers spent a total of 108 hours helping biologists with a population survey. They dug 104 holes along the beach and collected 368 clams that were identified, measured, weighed and then returned to their holes. Nearly 70 percent were purple varnish clams, a nonnative species. About 10 percent each were cockles or butters, 6 percent were pointed macomas and 4 percent were littlenecks, a declining native species. Manila and horse clams each made up 1 percent of the total clams collected.
The littleneck population remains low while butters and cockles are more common now than in the past. For every littleneck on the beach, there are at least 15 varnish clams, based on population estimates from the survey.
The beach drew roughly 2,500 clam diggers each season in the early 1990s. They collected mostly littlenecks, butter clams, horse clams and cockles. Manila and softshell clams were not as numerous and varnish clams hadn’t established themselves yet.
In the late 1990s, seasons were shortened because of strain on the clam population. In 2001, the population dropped dramatically after a die-off attributed to freezing temperatures during extremely low tides. It’s called “winter kill.” The littleneck population especially hasn’t bounced back.
Researchers suggested that strategically seeding the beach could help stabilize clam populations. One possibility would be to introduce Manila clam larvae north of the pier and some native littlenecks near the park’s southern boundary.
Seeding the beach is a decision that would have to be supported by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Tulalip Tribes. Its estimated cost is about $10,000 for less than one acre. It would take a couple of years for those clams to mature, and seeding would need to be done annually to keep population numbers up.
“If reopened, the park is expected to attract a large number of harvesters, which will place pressure on not just the enhanced portion, but also the remaining native littleneck population,” according to the report.
Kayak Point Park has 3,300 feet of shoreline along Port Susan with a fishing pier, nearby campsites, a playground, picnic shelters and boat launch. It’s the most visited Snohomish County park, according to the report.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife has recommended that officials work on acquiring more tidelands with healthy clam populations. The Tulalip Tribes suggested introducing littleneck clam larvae at Kayak Point and other locations along Port Susan to see where the species could thrive again. Biologists want population surveys to be done periodically.
The report is a guide and doesn’t change how the beach is managed. Decisions on studying, seeding or restarting clam digging would fall to the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Tulalip Tribes.
Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.
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