Alaska clams: Toxic shellfish poison

Hakai Magazine has a great article out today: "Toxic Algae has turned the Alaska shellfish harvest into a high-stakes gamble.'

https://www.hakaimagazine.com/featu...il&utm_term=0_0fc1967411-680b0191e0-121607449

Looks like home psp testing kits are availabe, checking costs...

Holy crap! I'll never get another roll of TP if this keeps up.

Web

Thats why I have a new subscription to the NY Times

Ah the good old days of digging razor clams on a minus tide at Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula. There would be literally hundreds of people out there digging for clams. Last I heard that was all closed. One time on a bear hunt in SE Alaska we dug up enough steamer clams for a meal just using a stick. All done. What a shame.

Jim

We have a cabin in Kasilof, right up the road from Clam Gulch & Ninilchik where the clamming was fantastic. a number of years back I took the family down on a serious -tide and there were probably 300 people out clamming with trucks, quads, UTV's and a half dozen Super Cubs thrown in the mix. Kids riding quads, trucks getting stuck and Super Cubs coming and going in every direction. Complete chaos and it was great, my California family has not doubted building the cabin since.

Rumor I heard was there was a bad freeze on a minus tide along that stretch and the clams were pretty well killed off. I haven't had time to play when I'm up there the past 2 years but a few friends went across the inlet and did well. Hoping to get the cabin sided this summer and return to outdoor activity. I'll likely never draw the permanent fund but I dream of the day when I pack an Alaskan drivers license.
Ken

SEATOR in Sitka will do a PSP test for 50 bucks, just send them a sample via FedEx... I've used them a few times over the last couple years... small price to pay when 2 or 3 families share the testing costs. Great piece of mind too before you dive into that bowl of clam chowder!

Clamming's been closed on the east side for years. The west side was still good last time I went. Too good. It took two days to process the clams. Not worth the trouble. Catch and release clamming? Naw.

Two questions: 1) In the article it mentioned one beach where clams tested good at point A, but 50 yards away tested positive. Crazy, but seems that one would have to test darn near all of them? 2) What do restaurants & grocery stores do to test?

Would love to try clamming on my next trip N but seems insane given even minor PSP risk?