California mom fined $88K after kids collect clams from shore

Article content

She might have been better off selling seashells by the seashore.

Article content

Alas, that wasn’t the case, and a California mom was hit with a major fine following what can accurately be described as a bizarre ordeal.

Article content

Charlotte Russ and her family took a trip to Pismo, Calif., at the end of last year, and the kids did what kids do.

“My kids, they thought they were collecting seashells,” the Fresno resident said, according to ABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News. “But they were actually collecting clams, 72 to be exact.”

Her kids collected rows of claims before learning a costly lesson about clamming regulations.

“Right before we went, that’s when I opened it and that’s when I saw the amount,” said Russ.

She was ticketed on the spot and later received a notice that she would have to pay just more than $88,000.

Article content

Article content

“It made me really sad and depressed, and it kind of ruined our trip,” said Russ.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lt. Matthew Gil said the rules are in place to protect the species of shellfish.

“The reason we have these regulations is because we have to let them get to 4 1/2 inches so they can spawn, so they can have offspring every year, and they have juvenile clams,” said Gil.

It’s important to educate yourself and your children before going ashore, Gil added.

“If you have a dead sand dollar, a dead animal, or something like that, or you have a broken seashell, that’s fine,” Gil said. “Pismo clams — what you’re going to see is both shells will be intact together.”

If you can’t take them a part very easily, it’s a clam.

Article content

“They know now at the beach don’t touch anything, but they know now what a clam is compared to what a seashell is now. I’ve had to explain that to them,” Russ said.

After explaining the clam confusion to a San Luis Obispo County judge, she got her fine reduced to $500.

She can laugh about it now.

“So I got this after I ‘won’ my case, in Pismo,” said Russ, alluding to a tattoo of a shellfish to remind her of the situation.

“It was definitely one expensive trip to Pismo, unforgettable,” she said.

There were 58 citations issued for this problem in San Luis Obispo last year.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

Article content