Seasonality of Shellfish Foraging on the Oregon Coast
With my workshop season taking a pause, I figured I would throw out some information about how the seasons affect shellfish foraging along the Oregon Coast.
As any visitor to the Oregon Coast may know, we have some drastic differences in weather and ocean conditions summer to winter. Our summers are generally pretty calm and mild, 60- 70 degrees, cold upwelled waters, and smaller waves. Winters bring about a different beast, with heavy rainfall, intense wind storms, and sometimes, waves up to 30ft!!
While most shellfish harvesting (mussels and bay clams) are open year round with a shellfish license from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, (more specifics in Intertidal Foraging on the Oregon Coast) the seasons do make it a little more challenging to get out. Hence, my workshop season takes a pause in the late fall and winter months. There are still low enough tides around full and new moons throughout the year, but the timing of these low tides and ocean conditions surrounding these low tides majorly affect our ability to get our and forage for shellfish along the Oregon Coast safely - and no shellfish is worth risking your life over.
Located just above the 45th parallel - our hours of daylight shorten drastically come fall and winter! (Not as extreme as Alaska but from about 15 hours of light on summer solstice to only about 8 hours of light on winter solstice) Shorter days mean that most often than not, low tide ends up falling before sunrise or after sunset. I personally don’t trust the ocean enough to be surrounded by sharp rocks and unpredictable waves with a headlamp guiding my way.
Along with tricky timing, our roaring winter ocean conditions are also not very conducive to being in the rocky intertidal foraging for shellfish (or doing anything for that matter). More often than not, we have 10+ ft waves with high wave energy breaking along our shores. (Sometimes waves reach 20-30ft!!!) No matter the tide or the tide of day, with that much energy breaking along the shores, big surges and sneaker waves are a major risk and not one to mess with. While tides may be tracked far in advance, wave conditions are not very predictable until the week of, and still sometimes pretty unpredictable until you’re looking at them.
Another phenomenon not always recognized is our seasonal shifting sand. Small waves throughout the summer slowly push more and more sand onto the beach. This creates sand bars that often make it easier (or harder) to reach rocky intertidal zones even on higher tides. Bigger waves in the fall and winter pull this sand back out and lower the level of the beach. The movement of sand on and off the beach is somewhat regular but where this sand ends up and formation of sand bars is always different! Some years channels are created between the beach and the rocky intertidal zone I forage at, other years the sand builds up so high you are practically standing above the mussel bed. This is another winter pattern that makes it harder to reach our rocky intertidal zones.
As you can see there is a lot that goes into the seasonality of shellfish foraging along the Oregon Coast.There is so much more than meets the eye when it comes to ocean conditions! Living on the Oregon Coast for 10 years, it has been truly fascinating to see our beach environment change season to season and year to year. There are so many weather patterns that go hand in hand, with every piece of the weather puzzle having some effect on overall conditions.
For me, the key to foraging is doing it safely and sustainably, and sometimes this might mean not doing it at all. Happy harvesting everybody! Stay safe.
Foggy, moody, stormy Oregon Coast (:
