This indicator tracks noncommercial bivalve harvest through an estimate of the number of people harvesting clams or oysters for personal use each year at a portion of public beaches in Puget Sound. Personal use is defined here to include harvest for recreation, food security, cultural and family heritage, as well as other personal and emotional experiences. The ability to harvest shellfish depends on the health of the resource, water quality, and access to publicly owned shellfish beds.

• Access to local foods (e.g., intertidal bivalves, such as clams and oysters) is measured via estimated harvester-days across the Puget Sound. In 2024, over 81,000 harvester-days were estimated across 32 sites, which is slightly lower than in previous years.
• Closures at several popular beaches; caused by access point maintenance, low bivalve populations, and biotoxin closures; curtailed opportunity and, consequently, observed harvest effort.
• The digital availability of information, such as tide times, beach locations, the DOH shellfish safety map, clam and oyster seasons, and social media are driving increased use at many sites.
• Sustainable management of intertidal shellfish resources must balance harvest pressures with the long-term sustainability of resources. When coupled with rising harvester participation, this often results in shorter seasons on managed beaches.
• WDFW can limit opportunity (i.e., season length) to control harvest on public tidelands to meet co-management and sustainable management guidelines. Only changes to intertidal bivalve populations, conservation beach closures, or biotoxin/pollution closures would have an effect on observed effort. For example, increases in bivalve populations may result in longer seasons; or biotoxin/pollution closures may truncate a season.