[Coast guide]
What's legal, where
Harvest law changes hard at every state line, and the beaches most people assume are open are usually the closed ones. Pick a state, pick what you're doing, and read the short version — then check the map before you go.
[Washington · personal use]
Washington: licensed, 10 pounds a day, and almost never in a state park.
A WDFW fishing license covers seaweed. The daily limit is 10 pounds wet weight, cut with a knife or scissors, holdfast left on the rock. The beaches most people assume are open — state parks — are the ones that are closed.
I keep this current because I use it myself, but agencies change rules mid-season. The official links above win every time.
License
Any Washington fishing license that includes shellfish/seaweed covers you. Buy it online through WDFW before you go — there is no on-beach option.
Daily limit
10 pounds wet weight per person per day, all species combined. Weigh it once, at the beach, before you leave.
Where it is closed
Washington State Parks are closed to seaweed harvest year-round, with one exception: Fort Ebey, Fort Flagler, and Fort Worden, April 16 to May 15 only.
Cutting rules
Knife or scissors only — never rakes or tined forks, never tearing from the rock. Bull kelp (Nereocystis) is cut no closer than 24 inches above the bulb; short-stemmed kelps like sugar kelp (Saccharina) and winged kelp (Alaria) no closer than 12 inches above the holdfast. The holdfast stays attached, where you found it.
Private tidelands
A huge share of Puget Sound beach is privately owned below the high-tide line. You need the owner permission, license or not. If ownership is not verifiable, I mark the site unverified rather than guess.
No sale, no barter
Commercial harvest is prohibited for personal license holders on both public and private tidelands. Take only what you will actually cook.
Discover Pass
Required for the parking lot at any Washington State Park ($10/day or $30/year), separate from your fishing license. Everyone needs it — harvesting or not.
Before you cook
Rinse in warm fresh water. Never harvest near an outfall, marina, industrial site, or an active DOH closure — and check the DOH biotoxin map the morning you go.
[Where the map says yes]
The state parks are closed. The county beaches aren't.
Almost everyone who asks me where to forage has the same wrong map in their head: big park, big parking lot, obviously public. That's usually the one place you can't cut.
Two honest caveats. First, ownership below the high-tide line is messy — where I couldn't verify it, the pin says unverified instead of guessing. Second, legal and safe are different questions: a beach can be perfectly legal to cut and still sit beside an outflow I wouldn't eat from. Those are marked too.
Check the state's water-safety map the morning you go, cut above the holdfast, and take only what you'll actually cook.
- Open year-round
- Seasonal window only
- Look, don't cut
- Not yet verified
Hatched pins and hatched areas mean no take — reserves, marine protected areas, state parks, and private tideland. The hatch marks the closure, not its exact boundary; check the agency map before you cut anywhere near an edge.
Tap a pin for the rule, the next low tides, and directions
- Open year-round
English Boom Historical Preserve
North Camano Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
The closest legal year-round cut on Camano. County park, public tideland, no state-park closure — license, 10 lbs wet weight, cut only, holdfast stays on the rock.
Water: Clams and oysters open year-round here (WDFW 240045), which is a good sign for the water. Still check the DOH map the morning of.
- Open year-round
Double Bluff Beach
South Whidbey Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
Big, generous public beach and one of the most reliable year-round legal cuts in Island County. License, 10 lbs, cut only.
Water: Clams and oysters open year-round (WDFW 260110). Check the DOH map before you taste anything.
- Open year-round
Freeland County Park
Holmes Harbor, Whidbey Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
County park, legal for seaweed year-round. The October–May window you see posted here is a clam and oyster rule, not a seaweed rule — seaweed is not tied to that season.
Water: Bivalves conditionally open Oct 1 – May 31 (WDFW 240440). Seaweed is unaffected, but I check the DOH map anyway.
- Open year-round
Dave Mackie Park — Maxwelton
South Whidbey Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
Legal to cut year-round, but Maxwelton Creek empties right here and DOH lists the shellfish as unfit at any time. I walk and teach here; I do not taste here.
Water: Bivalves closed year-round, unfit for consumption (WDFW 260120). Creek outflow — treat the water as suspect.
- Open year-round
Ala Spit County Park
North Whidbey Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
Legal for seaweed year-round. The May-only window posted here is a clam and oyster season and does not apply to seaweed. Sensitive spit — stay on the trail and off the nesting areas.
Water: Bivalves open May 1–31 only (WDFW 240265). Seaweed is separate; check the DOH map before tasting.
- Seasonal window only
Fort Ebey State Park
Whidbey Island, WA
Washington State Parks
One of only three state parks where harvest is legal at all (with Fort Flagler and Fort Worden), and only April 16 – May 15 under WAC 352-32-350. Every other month, including my September walks, is observation-only.
Water: DNR-140 is unclassified — no water-quality data exists for filter feeders here. The permanent metal shellfish sign is about clams and mussels, not seaweed.
- Look, don't cut
Camano Island State Park — South Beach
Camano Island, WA
Washington State Parks
Inside a state park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350. Walk, turn rocks, identify — nothing gets cut or carried off.
Water: Check the DOH shellfish safety map the morning of. Shellfish signage here is about clams and oysters, not seaweed.
- Look, don't cut
Cama Beach State Park
Camano Island, WA
Washington State Parks
Inside a state park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350. Walk, turn rocks, identify — nothing gets cut or carried off.
Water: Check the DOH shellfish safety map the morning of. Shellfish signage here is about clams and oysters, not seaweed.
- Look, don't cut
Possession Point State Park
South Whidbey Island, WA
Washington State Parks
State park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350 even though the clam and oyster beach is open. Observation only.
Water: Bivalves open year-round (WDFW 260151) — irrelevant to seaweed, which is closed here regardless.
- Look, don't cut
Maple Grove Boat Launch
Camano Island, WA
Island County public launch, private tidelands on either side
This one gets miscounted as open. The ramp and the little strip of county right-of-way are public, but the tidelands on both sides are privately owned, and the beach itself is a working boat launch. I use it to put a boat in, not to cut. Access only — no harvest.
Water: No DOH shellfish classification for the launch itself. Treat the water as unrated.
- Look, don't cut
Rosario Beach — Deception Pass
Fidalgo Island, WA
Washington State Parks
Inside a state park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350. Walk, turn rocks, identify — nothing gets cut or carried off.
Water: Check the DOH shellfish safety map the morning of. Shellfish signage here is about clams and oysters, not seaweed.
- Look, don't cut
Larrabee State Park — Wildcat Cove
Bellingham, WA
Washington State Parks
Inside a state park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350. Walk, turn rocks, identify — nothing gets cut or carried off.
Water: Check the DOH shellfish safety map the morning of. Shellfish signage here is about clams and oysters, not seaweed.
- Look, don't cut
Deception Pass — West Beach
Whidbey Island, WA
Washington State Parks
Inside a state park, so seaweed harvest is closed year-round under WAC 352-32-350. Walk, turn rocks, identify — nothing gets cut or carried off.
Water: Check the DOH shellfish safety map the morning of. Shellfish signage here is about clams and oysters, not seaweed.
- Not yet verified
Monroe Landing — Penn Cove
Central Whidbey Island, WA
Island County park over WDFW-listed public tideland
Public tideland, so cutting is technically legal — but DOH lists the shellfish here as unfit for consumption at any time. I keep it off the tour list until the water tells a different story.
Water: Bivalves closed year-round, unfit for consumption (WDFW 240130).
- Not yet verified
Utsalady Point — North Camano
Camano Island, WA
Island County boat ramp, ringed by private homes
Small ramp with private tidelands on both sides and no WDFW public-beach listing. Until I can confirm where the public tideland actually ends, I treat it as look-only.
Water: Not listed in the WDFW public beach directory — status unknown.
Looking for gatherings instead of rules? Along the Coast → — festivals, friends' tours, and where I'll be.