![]() ![]() The animal grows to the length of a hand, and is notable for its powerful foot that enables it to move up and down in the sand column with comparable rapidity– “a thoroughbred of the sand,” in Berger’s words. Author David Berger calls it “an Art Deco masterpiece” in his book, Razor Clams: Buried Treasure of the Pacific Northwest. ![]() The shell is oblong and streamlined with a golden-brown, glossy color. Washington has two razor clam festivals, one at the city of Ocean Shores, the other at the city of Long Beach, reflecting the clam’s role in the state’s identity and self-image. Quite a few consider razor clamming their favorite outdoor pursuit.Ī happy razor clammer using a tube to hoist a column of sand and hopefully a clam. They use shovels and razor clam tubes, a tool invented by James Batstone, a Washingtonian, in 1957. It is a family-centric activity that attracts people of all genders and ages, from 8 to 80. Today, thousands flock to the sandy coastal beaches annually to enjoy razor clamming. After WWII, the razor clam canning industry petered out, but the personal use fishery, aka the recreational fishery, continued to thrive. They gathered hundreds of pounds of clams every low tide. Commercial diggers supplied the clams using special narrow-bladed shovels (the “clam gun”), and putting the clams into surf sacks harnessed to their bodies. ![]() Soon, every hamlet near a razor clam beach had a cannery, or several. Around 1900 an entrepreneur living near the Columbia River discovered a superior way to can razor clams and launched a clam canning industry. Razor clams were an important food source for Native American Northwest coastal tribes as well as early settlers. Pacific Razor Clam Range The Clam’s History in Washington ![]()
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