Guide
Oysters and clams: the season, the grounds and the closures
Checked October 9, 2026 against SCDNR’s recreational shellfish grounds tables and the Department of Environmental Services’ shellfish closure map.
Two agencies decide whether a South Carolina oyster or clam may be taken. The Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) sets the recreational season and lists the public and state shellfish grounds where recreational harvest is allowed. The Department of Environmental Services (SCDES) classifies the water by management area and closes approved water after heavy rain, storms or spills. The shellfish tile reads both, and a town reads open only when both allow it.
Harvest only on a ground SCDNR lists, in season, in water SCDES has open. SCDNR: “Grounds which do not appear in the tables below are not available for the recreational harvest season.”
Open water is not an open ground. The tile says whether SCDES has closed approved water near the town. It does not say which ground you are standing on. Check SCDNR’s map before you go, or call the SCDES shellfish hotline, 1-800-285-1618.
What the tile shows
- The season is read off the SCDNR grounds table for the town’s stretch of coast, every time. Each row gives a Date Open and a Date Closed, and SCDNR notes that “closure dates for all Shellfish Grounds are subject to change”. On October 9, 2026, every row on all five tables read 1-October to 15-May. If the rows on a table disagree, or the table cannot be read, the tile says Check.
- Out of season, every town reads Closed, whatever the water.
- In season, the tile reads SCDES’s closure map for the management areas nearest the town. Restricted and prohibited water is always closed. Approved water is open unless SCDES has closed it. An area reads Open when none of its approved water is closed, Closed when all of it is, and Partly closed between.
- The town’s word is Open when all its areas are open, Partly open when some approved water near it is closed, Closed when all of it is, and Check when SCDES’s map gives no status for one of its areas.
- SCDNR also marks grounds “Partially Closed – SCDES” or “Closed SCDES” in its tables, where part or all of a ground sits in water SCDES does not approve. The tile counts them for the town’s stretch.
- The tile covers recreational harvest of oysters and clams. Commercial harvest, culture permits and mariculture permits are not on it. SCDNR: recreational harvest is not allowed on culture or mariculture permits without written permission from the permit holder.
Which water each town reads
Each town reads the SCDES management areas with approved water within reach of it, nearest first, and the SCDNR table for its stretch of coast.
| Town | SCDNR grounds table | SCDES management areas |
|---|---|---|
| Daufuskie Island | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 19, Area 20 |
| Hilton Head Island | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 20, Area 17, Area 19 |
| Bluffton | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 19, Area 18, Area 20 |
| Port Royal | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 15, Area 17, Area 16A |
| Beaufort | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 15, Area 16A, Area 14 |
| Lady's Island | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 16A, Area 15, Area 14 |
| St. Helena Island | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 16A, Area 16B, Area 15 |
| Fripp Island | South Edisto to Savannah River | Area 16B |
| Edisto Beach | Charleston to South Edisto | Area 13, Area 14, Area 12B |
| Seabrook Island | Charleston to South Edisto | Area 12A, Area 11, Area 12B |
| Kiawah Island | Charleston to South Edisto | Area 11, Area 12A, Area 10A |
| Folly Beach | Charleston to South Edisto | Area 10A, Area 11 |
| James Island | Charleston to South Edisto | Area 10A, Area 11 |
| Charleston | Bulls Bay to Charleston | Area 10A, Area 9A, Area 9B |
| Mount Pleasant | Bulls Bay to Charleston | Area 9A, Area 9B, Area 8 |
| Sullivan's Island | Bulls Bay to Charleston | Area 9A, Area 10A, Area 8 |
| Isle of Palms | Bulls Bay to Charleston | Area 9A, Area 8, Area 9B |
| McClellanville | Winyah Bay to Bulls Bay | Area 7, Area 6B |
| Georgetown | Little River to Winyah Bay | Area 5 |
| Pawleys Island | Little River to Winyah Bay | Area 5 |
| Murrells Inlet | Little River to Winyah Bay | Area 4 |
| Garden City Beach | Little River to Winyah Bay | Area 4 |
| Surfside Beach | Little River to Winyah Bay | Area 4 |
Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Little River and Conway have no approved shellfish water within reach and no shellfish tile. The Grand Strand’s approved water is Murrells Inlet’s.
What it cannot tell you
The tile does not give bag limits, licence rules or the boundary of any ground. Those are on SCDNR’s rules page and its maps. SCDES’s closure map is a picture of the water now; a closure after heavy rain can be posted after you have left the house.
Sources
- SCDNR, Shellfish — the recreational grounds tables by stretch of coast, the season and the rules
- SCDES, Shellfish Closures — the management areas, their classification, and which approved water is closed