Recreational Shellfish Harvesting in Pacific County
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Dungeness Crab Manila Clam Razor Clam Pacific Oyster Recreational Shellfish Harvesting In Pacific County Cancer magister Littleneck Clam Silliqua patula Cancer magister Clinocardium nuttallii Tapes philippinarum INTRODUCTION out if there are any beach closures in the area. This booklet was prepared through a You must respect the public combined effort of the Pacific and private beaches in County Department of Community Pacific County. Development, Washington State Department of Natural Resources We hope you enjoy this booklet and and Washington State Department find it useful. of Fish and Wildlife. Its purpose is to provide general information regarding the location of public TIDELAND OWNERSHIP beaches, access to these beaches, shellfish available and potential The shores of navigable tidal waters, public health problems associated lying between the line of ordinary with shellfish. high tide and the line of extreme low tide, are considered tidelands. Unfortunately, the authors cannot Many of the tidelands in Willapa Bay guarantee the accuracy of the are privately owned. Every effort has information contained within this been made to verify public tideland booklet due to changes in water locations on these maps; however, quality, land ownership and shellfish we are not responsible for errors. populations. Be sure to adhere to Tideland users should first verify the information contained within this property boundaries. The absence booklet regarding private tideland of posted signs does not ownership, trespassing and access. automatically identify public tidelands. Shellfish may not be taken Remember, before you harvest from private tidelands without the shellfish in Washington State: owner’s permission. You must buy a Washington State shellfish license and HISTORY OF PUBLIC TIDELANDS wear that license while you are harvesting. When the original 13 colonies became states, the founding fathers You must check the rules and adopted land use laws based on the regulations regarding the English system of law. The shores of seasons, size limits and harvest navigable waters and the soils under limits of the shellfish you are them were the property of the state. harvesting. You may obtain a New states, upon admission to the Fishing in Washington booklet union, retained the same rights as from the Department of Fish & the original 13 colonies. Wildlife or your nearest license dealer. The State of Washington, at the time of adoption of the State Constitution You should call the Marine on November 11, 1889, asserted its Biotoxin Hotline (1-800-562- ownership of the beds 5632) before you dig to find 1 MARINE BIOTOXIN HOTLINE 1-800-562-5632 HTTP://WWW.DOH.WA.GOV/EHP/SF/BIOTOXIN.HTM and shores of navigable waters up classified them as being best suited to and including the line of ordinary for commercial use (open for lease), high water (mean high water). reserves, and for public use purposes. Approximately 75 percent At that time all the tidelands of the of the Department managed state were publicly owned. tidelands were classified for public However, the Washington State use. The decisions were based on Constitution does not contain a location, historic use, length, and provision allowing upland property type of tidelands, and the extent owners any rights of access to and type of upland development. saltwater for shipping, fish and shellfish propagation or other water- oriented industry. Washington is a PUBLIC OWNERSHIP non-riparian rights state. The extent of public ownership on To rectify this situation, and provide any particular piece of state-owned revenue to the state, the 1889-1890 tideland varies depending upon the Legislature authorized the sale of date the uplands were patented, public tidelands to private i.e., transferred from government to individuals. In the ensuing years, private ownership. approximately 60 percent of Washington State-owned tidelands For tidelands where the uplands were sold to private owners. This were patented prior to statehood practice was discontinued in 1969. (November 11, 1889), the private upland ownership extends to the MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC LANDS mean high water line or to the meander line, whichever is further Today, 1,700 miles of saltwater seaward. Uplands patented by the tidelands remain in state ownership. United States after November 11, The Washington State Parks and 1889 extend to the line of mean high Recreation Commission and the water. Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife manage some 300 miles The meander line is the original of tidelands, including the Pacific surveyed shoreline, and in instances coastal tidelands. The remaining where erosion has occurred since 1,400 miles of tidelands are 1889, it may be well out into the Bay. managed by Washington State This means that what looks like Department of Natural Resources. tidelands, could actually be privately owned uplands. The DNR manages these public trust lands by utilizing multiple use Mean high water is the average of concepts. These lands are held in the elevations reached by all of the trust for all the people. However, it high tides for a particular area over must be recognized that some uses a long period of time. A complete such as aquaculture and recreation cycle of high tides takes 18.6 years. are not equally compatible. Mean high water in Willapa Bay Therefore, DNR has inventoried the varies from 5.06 feet to 10.53 feet in state-owned tidelands and elevation. In most cases, the mean high water line falls just seaward of 2 MARINE BIOTOXIN HOTLINE 1-800-562-5632 HTTP://WWW.DOH.WA.GOV/EHP/SF/BIOTOXIN.HTM the line of old drift logs in the upper Users of state-owned tidelands tideland area. assume all liability and risk associated with their use. Since the meander line is a surveyed line rather than a constant elevation Often there is no upland property line, in areas where pre-statehood available to install sanitary or patents exist for uplands it may be garbage facilities. Use sanitary very difficult to determine the exact facilities available at nearby marinas location of the boundary between and parks, or carry a toilet on board. public tidelands and private The continued recreational and uplands. Additionally, naturally commercial harvest of shellfish in occurring erosion and accretion Willapa Bay relies on clean water. make upland boundary lines subject to constant change. Do not trespass upon other people’s property to access public tidelands. After statehood, numerous detached tideland tracts in Willapa Bay were sold for the purposes of PUBLIC HEALTH shellfish cultivation. These privately owned detached shellfish beds are Vibrio paraheamolyticus usually located some distance away from the shoreline; however, in some The ingestion of shellfish cases they are very close. Most contaminated with Vibrio commercial shellfish beds are paraheamolyticus can result in marked with hemlock stakes or other intestinal disorders, which may markers by the property owner. include watery diarrhea and abdominal cramps, some cases may also include nausea, vomiting, fever RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES and headache. The typical incubation period (contaminated OF PUBLIC USERS shellfish consumption to disease outbreak) is between 12 and 24 Certain rules of conduct should be hours, however, this period can followed when visiting public range from 4 hours up to 30 hours. tidelands to dispel the image of the Typically the disease lasts between tourist who trespasses and leaves one and seven days and cannot be litter. Make sure to park in safe and transmitted from person to person. appropriate locations and do not trespass across private uplands when Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) accessing public tidelands. PSP, commonly referred to as “red Shellfish growing is a viable industry in tide” can be associated with Willapa Bay and is very important to massive algae blooms that can the economy of Pacific County. cause a discoloration of the water. Shellfish growers farm their private It is important to realize, however, tideland beds for commercial PSP may be present when a purposes. Be careful not to discoloration of the water (red tide) encroach onto private shellfish bed(s). 3 MARINE BIOTOXIN HOTLINE 1-800-562-5632 HTTP://WWW.DOH.WA.GOV/EHP/SF/BIOTOXIN.HTM is not. Individuals should always occur rapidly and without warning. check the marine biotoxin hotline for Individuals should always call the up to date information regarding Marine Biotoxin Hotline before they shellfish closures. dig. If the above-mentioned signs and symptoms develop after the Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning is an consumption of shellfish, medical illness caused by the ingestion of attention should immediately be shellfish containing concentrated sought. amounts of toxin. Symptoms of the disease include tingling of the lips Contaminant Impacts and tongue, drowsiness, fever, rash and staggering. The duration of the During the past fifteen years, more illness is typically a few days in non- than 25% of Washington’s shellfish lethal cases, however, the most growing areas have been closed to severe cases can result in respiratory harvest due to inadequate control arrest within 24 hours of the of pollution sources. These pollutants consumption of toxic shellfish. can become incorporated within the shellfish through their natural Domoic Acid “filter feeding” mechanism. In turn, the contamination can be According to the booklet titled transmitted to humans through the Puget Sound Public Shellfish Sites, consumption of raw or undercooked domoic acid (or Amnesic Shellfish