Summertime means lots of sunshine and trips to the beach for some of us. Kids and adults love to dip their toes in the water and play in the sand. A core childhood memory for millions of children is going to the beach and collecting seashells.
Some of us may even still have our collections from when we were kids. It's an excellent, cheap way to grab a few souvenirs before heading home. Or is it?
Charlotte Russ from Fresno, California, thought her kids were collecting some mementos of their trip to Pismo Beach in their home state, but she quickly found out they were in deep trouble. Russ' five children were collecting clams, a protected species that cannot be harvested without a license on Pismo Beach. The mother was slapped with an $88,000 fine that ruined their trip.
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Russ had no idea her kids were doing anything wrong.
The mom told KFSN that the family was just enjoying a beautiful day at the beach in late 2023 when they started grabbing items from the sand.
"My kids they thought they were collecting seashells, but they were actually collecting clams, 72 to be exact," Russ said.
The children had rows and rows of the sea creatures lined up, and the mother was immediately given a ticket. The children allegedly didn't have a fishing license and were not legally allowed to take the clams.
When she opened the notice, she was shocked.
Russ didn't even realize the shells were live clams rather than just seashells, but the penalty she received was an even bigger surprise. She was fined $88,000 for her kids' beach adventure.
The mom said looking at the notice totally changed the tone of their beach day. "It made me really sad and depressed, and it kind of ruined our trip," said Russ.
Officials say the rules are in place for a reason.
Lieutenant Matthew Gil with the Department of Fish and Wildlife explained the situation to KFSN. "The reason we got it we have these regulations is because we have to let them get to 4 and a half inches so they can spawn, so they can have offspring every year, and they have juvenile clams," he said.
He added that some things are perfectly OK, but beachgoers must understand what is what.
"If you have a dead sand dollar, a dead animal, or something like that, or you have a broken seashell, that's fine," Gil noted. "Pismo clams — what you're gonna see is both shells will be intact together."
Russ admitted there were signs.
She told KFSN there was signage on the beach, but she and her family were so eager to get out and have fun that they didn't pay much attention to it. She told KFSN she wished there were more signs.
According to KFSN, 58 citations for illegal clamming were given in San Luis Obispo in 2023.
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Thankfully, a judge took pity on the mom of five.
She told KFSN her kids really had no idea that the clams were alive and said she explained that to a judge, who gave her a bit of leniency. Her fine was reduced to just $500.
The mom now laughs about the trip and even shared a tattoo of a clam she had inked in honor of the day. "It was definitely one expensive trip to Pismo, unforgettable," Russ said with a chuckle.
