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Several Hood Canal Shellfish Beaches Reopen Wednesday as Biotoxin Levels Fall
Duckabush, Triton Cove, Belfair and Point Whitney reopen or extend seasons. Port Gamble Bay and Mats Mats to Paradise Bay stay closed.
Washington Fish and Wildlife is reopening several public shellfish beaches on Hood Canal starting Wednesday, October 14, after part of a summer biotoxin closure was rescinded in line with a state Department of Health advisory. The department says the move is meant to make up for harvest lost this summer.
Open: Duckabush Tidelands for clams, mussels and oysters until further notice; Belfair State Park for clams, mussels and oysters through October 31; Triton Cove Tidelands for clams and mussels through October 31; and Point Whitney Tidelands and Point Whitney Lagoon for oysters through October 31. Other public beaches in central Hood Canal, north of a line from Triton Head to Tekiu Point and east of a line due south from Sisters Point, follow their normal posted seasons.
Still closed: public beaches in southern Hood Canal south and west of those lines, all public beaches in Port Gamble Bay south of a line from Teekalet Point to Point Julia, and beaches from the mouth of Mats Mats Bay to Paradise Bay, including Port Ludlow Bay.
Biotoxin closures can change quickly. Check the Washington Shellfish Safety Map or the department's Find a Beach tool the day you go, and always confirm the beach's own season.
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