Clams in Pismo Beach are coming back in size and number after 30 years of a low population. Locals say they’ve seen a surge in the last three months.
“It's been crazy,” said Saige Sewell, who works near the Pismo Pier. “On the low tide, there's hundreds and people pick them up, the seagulls pick them up and break them open.”
“You have to dig for them usually,” said Kolea Quincey, a Los Osos resident and frequent Pismo Beach visitor. “So I thought it was unusual that we saw a lot of them just lying on the beach.”
The clams are growing to the allowed harvesting size of 4 1/2 inches, but city leaders say they’re not growing fast enough to keep clamming season year-round.
“We would want to make sure that we're doing it where people can continue to clam,” said Jorge Garcia, Pismo Beach City Manager. “It's a tradition that people have had here for generations. Now that it's back, we want to make sure that it's done in a sustainable way, and that's what we want to work with.”
The city is looking to establish a set clamming season from September through April, giving the clams an opportunity to grow their population above the minimum harvesting size.
“We would have a limited season,” Garcia said. “Any other times, clamming would not be allowed. So it'll make our enforcement provisions here locally a lot easier if we have a season where it is allowable and a season where it is not allowable.”
“We're known for these clams and we don't get to enjoy them as much,” Sewell said. “It’s sad that there's restrictions on them now. It used to be a big thing to go clamming, and now, no one really does. That culture's gone because there's just no more clams of that legal size."
Garcia said the change will help preserve the activity for generations to come.
“We want to make sure that we are an active contributor in how we preserve our history,” he said. “Clamming is so important to who we were, who we are and who we want to be in the future.”
Approval for an official clamming season needs to come from California Fish and Wildlife, which could take about two years. Until then, the current regulations stay in place.
