Oregon Coast Advisories/Bans Lifted in Two Areas: Clamming, Newport's Nye Beach

Published 07/01/2018 at 4:52 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Newport, Oregon) – Good news for those who love clamming on the Oregon coast or splashing around the waters of Newport’s Nye Beach. Authorities have lifted bans on these activities in two key areas.

State officials have re-opened razor clamming to the majority of the Oregon coast after a portion of the southern coast was closed. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) have announced the section from the Umpqua River to Cape Arago is back open.

The recreational harvest of razor clams is closed from Cape Perpetua (near Yachats) to the north jetty of the Umpqua River and still closed from Cape Arago to the California Border for elevated levels of domoic acid toxin.

This includes all beaches and all bays in those affected areas.

Everything north of Yachats is fine for collection – including Newport, Lincoln City, Netarts / Three Capes, Tillamook Bay area, Rockaway Beach, Nehalem Bay area, and all of the famed Clatsop beaches from Seaside northward.

Mussels, bay clams and crab are open for recreational harvesting along the entire Oregon Coast. Contact ODFW for recreational licensing requirements, permits and rules.

For more information please call ODA’s shellfish safety information hotline at (800) 448-2474 or visit the ODA shellfish closures web page.

On the central Oregon coast, Newport’s Nye Beach was under a health advisory for water contact for a few days, which was lifted Friday.

OHA lifted the public health advisory for contact with marine water at Nye Beach, which is a major tourist location in Lincoln County. The health authority issued the advisory June 26 after water samples showed higher-than-normal levels of fecal bacteria in ocean waters.

Since then, results from samples taken by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) showed bacteria levels below the risk threshold.

“Contact with the marine water no longer poses a higher-than-normal risk,” the agency said in a statement. “However, officials recommend staying out of large pools on the beach that are frequented by birds, and runoff from those pools, because the water may contain increased bacteria from fecal matter.”

Other areas of the Oregon coast may be just enough inland they would be considered fresh water locations, which are then not subject to health advisories. However, this is only because OHA does not have the authority to issue an advisory, although such a body of water could also be affected by these elevated levels.

Contact the Oregon Beach Monitoring Program (beach.health@state.or.us) to subscribe to the data distribution listserv and receive weekly updates of water quality results throughout the monitoring season.

State officials continue to encourage other recreational activities at all Oregon beaches, suggesting only that water contact be avoided when advisories are in effect.

Some of these inland water areas are considered fresh water locations and are not subject to health advisories, meaning these results may be elevated but OHA does not have authority to issue an advisory. Oregon Coast Hotels in these areas - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours

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