‘Nowhere To Hide’ Patrol Turns Up Shovelfuls Of Geoduck Violations On South Sound Beaches

“Violations were prolific” during a three-day geoduck emphasis patrol on South Puget Sound this spring, according to WDFW Police.

They say that officers issued more than 40 citations and infractions during the patrol, which overlapped extreme low tides, including for overlimits, wastage, failure to submit catch for inspection, no shellfishing license, illegal possession of geoduck necks and out-of-season crab, and more.

The daily limit is the first three geoduck dug, and because they occur so low on the beach, they’re pretty much only available during the lowest tides of the year, typically -2.0 feet or lower.

According to WDFW Police, the patrol was spurred by Officer Jeff Summit after he saw increased geoduck harvest earlier in the spring and suspected that some diggers “were going to extreme lengths to avoid detection.”

So local game wardens organized what they nicknamed the “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide” patrol, with some WDFW officers dudded up in street clothes to blend in on the beach and others operating a drone, all while regularly uniformed officers stood by on shore and on boats to swoop in should suspected violations occur.

“The pressure on the beach was significant and the violations were prolific,” officers reported in a post.

They shared a timeline of their operation:

Day 1 –Attempting to hide over limits in woods as officers are seen in uniform on the beach

Day 1 –Drone observations assisted this case, group of three with over limit geoduck, fail to submit for inspection and closed season crab

Day 2 –Group of four, over limit geoduck (high-grading) wasting small geoducks, plus one subject harvested her limit before license purchase, plain clothes observations key to making case

Day 2 –Group of four, harvested over limit and gave smaller geoducks to another group, plain clothes observations key to making this case

Day 2 –large group left beach on boat, boat patrol officer key to making this case – geoduck possession of neck only, no license, boat overloaded

Day 3 –group of five left beach on boat, boat patrol officer key to making this case – geoduck possession of neck only, geoduck over limit, three subjects without valid licenses, fail to submit for inspection (dumping over boat as officers approached), closed season crab

Geoducks are jointly managed by the state and tribes, which split the available harvest half and half. The state share supports recreational and commercial harvest. Past WDFW law enforcement efforts have focused on the illegal commercial sale of geoducks.

Just as with everything else these days, there are more than a few geoducking Puget Sound how-to videos on YouTube.

Shellfish overharvesting has been an issue across Northwest beaches in recent years, mostly Dungeness crabs, bay clams and razor clams, but WDFW’s patrol shows that deeply dug in geoducks are not immune, especially given the reward of their size compared to other shellfish.