Beach Information

Tide Chart Link Tide Chart for Pleasant Harbor Brinnon, WA 

Hood Canal has a Vibrio bacterium warning annually from May through October. State Beaches are closed during these months. As always, take shellfish at your own risk especially during the summer months! Harvest early on the outgoing tide, not after it's sat exposed in the hot sun. Make sure to always cook it to an internal temperature of 150 degrees for at least 15 seconds. Please see article on Gathering Safe Shellfish in Washington at the bottom of this page.

State Beach Closures for Shellfish Harvesting and Local Lake Closures:  

Washington Shellfish Safety Map 

Shellfish Beach Closures | WA Dept of Health or call the Biotoxin Hotline at 1-800-562-5632.

• April 30, 2025 - Anderson Lake closed for testing positive for Anatoxin-A. It's 1000 times higher than the state criteria. This toxin causes illness and death even in tiny amounts to humans and animals.

Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning can be fatal. Illness is caused by eating shellfish contaminated with toxins from the naturally occurring marine plankton Alexandrium. The biotoxin is not destroyed by cooking or freezing. Symptoms of PSP can appear within minutes or hours and usually begin with tingling lips and tongue, moving to the hands and feet, followed by difficulty breathing and paralysis. Anyone experiencing any of these symptoms after consuming shellfish should contact a health care provider immediately. For extreme reactions, call 911. 

State Shellfish License info listed at bottom of page regarding harvesting on private property.

Shellfish Regulations (Hood Canal is Marine Area 12)

The State of the Salish Sea — SeaDoc Society

Fishing Regulations

Shellfish Regulations

Shrimping Regulations 

Crabbing Regulations

Boating Safety Checklist

• Members must have a CURRENT Facility Use Card (Member Badge), preferably worn where they can easily be seen. Telephone photos are not acceptable.
• One limit of oysters is 18. One limit of clams is 40. There is a maximum of three limits of oysters and 3 limits of clams per membership per day. This could be a single member with two guests or 2 members and 1 guest. Meaning if only 1 person goes out, only 1 limit can be taken, 2 people is 2 limits, 3 people is the max at 3 limits.
• A disabled person may obtain a handicap sticker, which will allow someone else to use his or her card. The person harvesting the oysters may get a limit for the disabled member as well as themselves.
• Oysters may be taken off in the shells at this time. However, this may change as the summer season wears on. We will be watching the numbers of oysters coming off the beach very closely.
• As of this time, there will NOT be any extra limits this year.
• A responsible adult must accompany children under 12 years of age.
• No dogs are permitted on the beach at low tide. 
• Renters do not have beach, dock, or boat ramp privileges.
• No family member or friend is permitted to use a member's card.
  

The Board has the right to suspend membership, if a member fails to comply with established rules. 

• Members must have a visible, CURRENT Facility Use Card (Member Badge).
• A Member must be present during the launching or recovery of a boat, NO EXCEPTIONS!
• Please do not block usage by tying up to the floating dock for excessive periods of time.
• There is a NO WAKE ZONE from the dock to beyond the buoy.
• Please show COURTESY, PATIENCE AND OBSERVE WATER SAFETY PROCEDURES.

Beach & Boat Launch Rules can be downloaded under the Rules & Regulations tab.

Below is a reply from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to a member's question about the need for a shellfish license when taking clams or oysters from private tidelands. The short story is that the state game wardens expect us to have a valid license, and may enforce this at their discretion, so your board recommends complying with the requirement.

DFW Response:  

Thank you for contacting the Department with your question. The Fish Program forwarded your message to me for a response.

RCW 77.12.047 says that the Department does not have the authority to regulate the times, areas, gear, methods, size, sex, and species of private tideland owners or lessees and their immediate family members when they take or possess oysters, clams, cockles, borers, or mussels, excluding razor clams. However, it does not restrict the Department’s authority to regulate the taking of crab, other shellfish not listed above, or fish harvested in state waters over private tidelands. You may view that RCW here: http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=77.12.047. The same information is available in the fishing regulation pamphlet. If you do not have a copy of that, you may download it here: http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/. 

As you will see, this applies to all privately owned tidelands, whether owned singularity or by a group. Additionally, this RCW does not exempt private tideland owners from the requirement of purchasing a license to harvest the shellfish listed in RCW 77.12.047. All harvesters, regardless of land ownership, 15 years of age and older are required to have either a shellfish or combination license. If you are not the landowner, lessee, or member of that immediate family, then all rules apply – including daily limits & shucking regulations. Everyone harvesting shellfish in excess of the daily limit from private beaches for presumed commercial purposes needs a shellfish certification from the Department of Health.

It is important to reiterate that the exceptions to the limits and other requirements for owners/lessees/immediate family apply only to shellfish (except razor clams) buried in the tidelands. Crab are not stationary on the beach and come and go, usually with the incoming and outgoing tides in order to feed and are not a resource belonging to any one individual’s property. A private landowner may have tidal rights to whatever is in the tidelands, but they do not own the water and whatever happens to be in that water (crab, fish, etc.).

Please note that, while WDFW closures do not apply to private tideland owners, you should always check with the Department of Health to ensure the shellfish you harvest are safe for human consumption. Washington State Department of Health (DOH) closures due to pollution and/or marine biotoxins are available by following this link: health restrictions. You may also access this information via the DOH Marine Toxins PSP Hotline at 1-800-562-5632. When there are concerns regarding human consumption, DOH is the state agency responsible for testing and certifying all public beaches for pollution and/or biotoxin safety. 

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact WDFW should you have additional questions.

Sincerely,

Joanna Eide, WSBA #44854

Criminal Justice Liaison/Regulations Coordinator

Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

Joanna.Eide@dfw.wa.gov

Phone: (360) 902-2403

Fax: (360) 902-2155