Diggers happy as clams.

Byline: MIKE STAHLBERG The Register-Guard

FLORENCE - Beachcombers are a common sight here, but the knots of people staring intently at the wet sands along the beach north of the Siuslaw River jetty last week didn't look like normal beachcombers.

Each of them carried either a shovel with a narrow, curved blade or what appeared to be a 3-foot-long piece of 4-inch diameter pipe.

Every few minutes, one of them would push a shovel or pipe into the sand and - as often as not - come up with a big, fat razor clam.

Normally, your chances of digging razor clams on the beach at Florence are about as good as finding a volleyball-sized Japanese glass fishing float on a surfside stroll at 10 o'clock in the morning.

But this is no normal year on the Oregon coast, at least when it comes to razor clams.

"This is unquestionably the largest population of razors I've ever seen," said state shellfish biologist John Johnson of Newport. "And that includes both my time as a kid growing up on the coast, and having worked my whole career on the coast."

And Johnson pays more attention to clams than most coastal residents. He was a commercial razor clam digger in Seaside for six years and has been an Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist for 30 years. He's also the author of the book "Clam Digging & Crabbing in Oregon," published in 1990 and which remains the definitive guide to shellfish in Oregon.

"It's better now than during the so-called boom years of the late '60s and early '70s," Johnson said. "I went out on the Newport beach this morning, after the best part of the clam tide, and was still able to get my 15 clams in 15 minutes."

Quick limits of clams (diggers are allowed 15 razors per day, but must keep the first 15 they dig, regardless of size) have been common this year on the beaches of Clatsop County, where 90 percent of Oregon's razor clam population resides on beaches north of Tillamook Head.

But clams are also showing up in good numbers in places where people don't normally bother to dig - such as the Florence area.

Just ask Kim Campbell, a life-long resident of Florence who was razor clamming for the first time ever Friday.

"I've done the other kind, bay clamming, but this is my very first time for razoring," said Campbell, who had seven large clams in his bag.

"We thought we'd give it a go, and it seems to be working very well. It's kind of fun. We didn't care if we got any. Just being here is nice."

An experienced friend, Brad Wilson, showed Campbell how to look for the tell-tale mark clams leave in the sand when they retract their necks from the surface.

"They're not 'showing' real well today, but we're doing all right," Wilson said. "I think I've got 10 so far, and this is not really a clamming beach."

Both men used "clam guns" - basically a piece of pipe with a cap and handle on one end - made by a friend of Wilson. The clam-gun users weren't working as hard as those using the traditional curved clam shovel.

"There's no technique involved with this," said Larry Bishop, another Florence resident armed with a clam gun. "The shovel requires a little more technique - you've got to get down and dig around and get your hands all wet and cold. When the weather's wet, you can get pretty miserable."

With the clam gun, however, air pressure pulls the clam out with the surrounding sand.

So many people are gunning - and digging - for clams this year that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates that 1.3 million razor clams will be harvested in 150,000 clamming trips during 2002. (Previously, 1976 has been considered the busiest year for clamming, with an estimated 119,000 trips.)

And limits have been the rule on Clatsop County beaches this year. Based on creel checks, fish and wildlife officials estimate the average clam digger harvested 13.3 clams per trip through May 31.

Unaccustomed to seeing such heavy clamming pressure, some Clatsop County residents grew alarmed and petitioned the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to call an early halt to the harvest.

"The undersigned agree that conservation is needed NOW in management of razor clams on Clatsop beaches," the petition said. "Therefore, we strongly urge the commission to close razor clam digging on Clatsop beaches from Seaside to South Jetty on June 1, 2002."

The commission rejected that plea, opting to stay with the traditional July 15-Sept. 30 closure on Clatsop beaches. (Other Oregon beaches are open to clam digging year-round because pressure is so light.)

ODFW shellfish biologist Matt Hunter told commissioners the huge population of clams this year is largely the result of environmental conditions such as weather and ocean productivity, and that the high harvest rate does not pose any threat to retaining ample brood stock.

Clams living in "subtidal" areas (which only divers can reach) assure an adequate spawning population even if the beaches are picked clean, Johnson said. (The annual summer closure on the Clatsop beaches is intended to allow juvenile clams from this year's spawn a chance to grow larger before they are harvested, not to protect brood stock.)

Each mature female clam produces six to 10 million eggs. The larvae are free-swimming for five to 16 weeks before the shell develops and the juvenile clams settle to the bottom. By then, the ocean currents could have carried them to almost any beach.

Those that survive the pounding surf and predation by seagulls, crab and surf perch can live as long as seven years, but most do not live beyond five years.

The current clam bonanza "is the result of the spawn we had two years ago," Johnson said.

"The reason we have such good clam numbers is a combination of wonderful ocean conditions in terms of upwelling and nutrients (clams feed on single-cell organisms called diatoms) combined with relatively mild ocean conditions the past two years," Johnson said.

"The bulk of them are not being dug out because the pressure is still not that great."

That means clamming should continue to be good for the rest of 2002 and - if the ocean doesn't get too stirred up - well into 2003 and beyond.

"We're seeing several distinct age classes of razors, so this population boom could last for a while," he said.

Rough ocean conditions, however, scour the marginal clam beaches on the central and southern Oregon coast, destroying and/or removing the tenuous clam populations now residing there and forcing razor clam aficionados to again drive to the Seaside/Gearhart area.

Until that happens, however, diggers have a good chance to find razors anywhere sand has accumulated and stabilized.

"One north coast biologist came down to a meeting and stopped along the way at a tiny little beach near Oswalt State Park and found lots of razors there," Johnson said. "So this will last awhile."

Clams can be dug at any extra low tide, but razors are most accessible on minus tides. Minus tide series will occur June 21-29, July 7-15 and 20-27, and Aug. 6-12 and 18-23.

Other coastal states require a license to dig clams, but Oregon does not. However, given the state's budget woes, debate over whether clamming and crabbing should continue to be free is likely to resurface in the next Oregon Legislature. Shellfish license proposals have been introduced five times since 1987, and at least one lawmaker has already said he is drafting a bill to submit to the 2003 session.

THE RAZOR EDGE

Mother Nature has provided an unusual bounty of razor clams on Oregon beaches. Here's what you need to know before you dig in.

SEASON: Most Oregon beaches are open to clam digging year-round. The only exception is in Clatsop County, where beaches are closed to clamming July 15-Sept. 30.

LICENSE: Unlike its neighbors to the north and south, Oregon does not require a license for clamming.

BAG LIMIT: The first 15 razor clams dug, regardless of size.

WHERE: The best beaches are on the north Coast, around Seaside and Gearhart. But clams are also available around Newport and from Waldport to Yachats, as well as in the sands that accumulate around river jetties on the central coast.

WHEN: Minus tides are best. The next ones will occur June 21-29 and July 7-15.

HOW: Use clam gun or clam shovel to remove sand - and clam. Dig just to seaward of dimples, depressions or small holes created by clams as they move their necks.

MORE INFORMATION: See the book "Clam Digging & Crabbing in Oregon," by John Johnson.

- The Register-Guard

CAPTION(S):

A Florence clam digger (left) gropes for a razor clam while his companions tap their shovels against the sand trying to get clams to "show." The current conditions have led many clam diggers to quickly reach the maximum of 15 razor clams, which are showing up in uncommon areas this season.