Guide

Shellfish closures, explained

Checked September 12, 2026 against the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW).

Why things close

Natural algae blooms put toxins into shellfish: domoic acid and paralytic shellfish toxin. You cannot see, smell or taste them, and cooking or freezing does not remove them. ODA tests samples along the coast and closes harvesting where toxins reach the limit.

Closures follow the coastline, not the county

ODA names each closure by landmarks, such as “from Cape Blanco to the California border” or “from the Columbia River to Cascade Head.” The landmarks it has used on this coast include the Columbia River, Tillamook Head south of Seaside, Cape Lookout, Cascade Head just north of Lincoln City, Seal Rock, the north jetty of the Siuslaw at Florence, and Cape Blanco north of Port Orford. The board reads those landmarks and tells you which side your town is on. A town within about two miles of a boundary is shown the stricter side; Florence is read from the South Jetty up to Heceta Beach, because a closure that stops at the Siuslaw’s north jetty is a closure of the beach Florence digs on. A closure ODA words in a way we cannot place is shown to every town, marked as a guess. When that happens, the hotline settles it.

Four separate answers

• Razor clams, mussels, bay clams and crab are tested and opened or closed separately. One can be closed while the others are open.
• Crab: ODA says to always gut the crab and throw away the “butter” before cooking, and to throw away the cooking liquid rather than using it in anything.
• Scallops are not sampled. Do not eat them whole; only the adductor muscle does not build up toxins.
• Softshell clams carry a separate Oregon Health Authority advisory, coastwide, for naturally occurring arsenic.

How long a closure lasts

To reopen, ODA needs two samples in a row below the limit, taken at least a week apart. So a closure lasts at least a week, and often much longer.

Store-bought and restaurant shellfish

Commercial shellfish is tested separately and ODA says it remains safe while sport harvest is closed.

If you get sick

See a doctor and report it to your county health department. Domoic acid symptoms usually start within a day or two and can include vomiting, dizziness, confusion and short-term memory loss. Paralytic shellfish toxin acts within hours: tingling or numbness, loss of coordination, and in bad cases paralysis. Paralysis is an emergency: call 911.

Licenses, seasons and where to go

Licenses, seasons and limits are set by ODFW, not ODA, and with one exception are not on this board. The exception is the Clatsop beaches, the Columbia River to Tillamook Head, which ODFW closes to razor clamming every year from July 15 through September 30 so the young clams can grow: the board shows that as CLOSED at Astoria, Warrenton, Gearhart and Seaside for those dates, marked as ODFW’s season closure rather than a biotoxin closure, and they reopen October 1 unless ODA has closed them for toxin. ODFW splits the coast into zones that are not the board’s: the Columbia below Tongue Point is its Columbia zone; the Clatsop beaches, Nehalem Bay, Tillamook Bay, Netarts Bay, Nestucca Bay, Siletz Bay, Yaquina Bay, Alsea Bay and the Siuslaw are in its northwest zone, and the Umpqua, Coos Bay, the Coquille, Port Orford, the Rogue and the Chetco in its southwest zone. ODFW’s own bay guides: Nehalem Bay, Tillamook Bay, Netarts Bay, Nestucca Bay, Siletz Bay, Yaquina Bay, Alsea Bay, the Umpqua, Coos Bay and the Coquille.

Sources

• ODA, recreational shellfish biotoxin closures (the page the board reads)
• ODA newsroom, mussel harvesting opens on the northern Oregon coast (a closure worded by landmark: “from the Columbia River to Cascade Head”)
• ODFW closure notices worded the same way: Tillamook Head to the north jetty of the Siuslaw River, Cape Lookout to Seal Rock State Park and the Washington border to Cascade Head
• ODFW, shellfish toxins and harvest safety
• ODFW, crabbing and clamming zones: Columbia, northwest and southwest