‘I Keep Finding More Clams Everywhere I Look!’ WA Warden On Coastal Razor Clam Bust

Washington game wardens are rolling out another poaching bust recorded on their body-worn cameras, this time of a pair of Portlanders found in possession of nearly five times the legal limit of razor clams from a Pacific County beach.

The minute-and-a-half-long video posted this morning by WDFW Police on Facebook shows Officer Paul Jacobsen interviewing the two men last Friday evening, pulling more and more clams out of a white Ford Explorer and then tallying all the shellfish on the tailgate of his state-issue pickup.

“Sh*t. Too many to count,” Jacobsen says, arranging the razors in rows of tens over a dubbed-in musical interlude. “We got 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140.”

The daily limit on Washington beaches is the first 15 you dig, but shellfish swinery has become a thing in the Northwest in recent years as people try and illicitly harvest waaaaaay more razors, bay clams, mussels, crabs and other saltwater delights than is legally allowed.

Oftentimes, the public spots the bad actors and calls them in, and that’s what happened in this case.

“We would like to thank those that reported the incident to us,” WDFW Police say on their post. “Officers rely on tips from the public as they are often our eyes and ears that lead us to illegal harvest or over limit cases such as this.”

Officers say that after being tipped off, Jacobsen observed one of the two men making “numerous” trips from the beach to the Explorer and heading back to the sands, “each time with an empty clam bag.”

The video begins with one of the men lifting a clam bag out of the back of the SUV and saying, “This is our catch.”

“OK,” states Jacobsen.

“And then we have some in that … uh …,” adds the man, too-quickly pulling another clam bag out of a blue cooler.

“In there too? OK,” states Jacobsen. “Any other clams? That’s it? OK, do you guys got your licenses with you?”

Fast forward a few seconds and Jacobsen notes, “You guys been digging for a long time!”

“Yeah, we couldn’t find any,” the other man states.

As he reaches for the blue cooler, Jacobsen states, “I watched you dig for two hours,” and pulls out a garbage sack. “What about these clams?”

“That’s ours too,” admits the first.

“OK, those are yours too?” Jacobsen says, adding “OK” after an apparent admission.

“Why didn’t you tell me about those?” the officer asks.

“Oh, I just forgot,” one states.

“You just forgot those? OK,” says Jacobsen.

A couple minutes later, the body cam footage shows the first man opening the hood of the Explorer and, lo and behold, snuggled up next to the engine block is a large yellow bag.

“Why didn’t you tell me about these clams?” asks Jacobsen, who had previously observed a bag being placed under the hood.

“Ugh, sorry,” says the man.

“I keep finding more clams everywhere I look!” Jacobsen exclaims. “OK, is there any more clams?”

“Really, no,” says the man, raising his hands in surrender. “I swear.”

“This was all of them? Are you sure?” the officer asks.

“Yes,” comes the reply.

“I don’t want to take your car apart,” Jacobsen says. “There’s none under the seat?”

“That’s a shame. I’m sorry. I, I, I, I’m really sorry about it, sir,” says the man.

This is the second release of wardens’ body cam footage this fall – we detailed the first, from a Cowlitz River hatchery bust – since all 152 agency officers began wearing the devices in September. The program was funded by $915,000 allocated by state legislators this year.

Releasing the videos has several likely benefits for WDFW. It reinforces to the public at large that its officers, who often work alone in remote places, will be recording footage of contacts they make and will release it publicly, a potential deterrent that will also serve to bolster court cases, along with provide increased accountability for officer actions. And it shows wardens working to protect the state’s fish and wildlife, in this case an economically important shellfish for coastal communities during a slower time of year for towns such as Long Beach, Westport, Ocean Shores and Pacific Beach.

All said and done last Friday evening, WDFW officers sent the duo back to the Rose City with citations for overlimits of razor clams and failing to submit their illegal haul for inspection.

As for the clams, “They were distributed to other diggers who had not filled their legal limits yet,” says Becky Elder, a WDFW Police spokeswoman.

Ho-ho-ho, merry mid-November!