Edible crayfish and clams found in Sammamish River

The daily limit on Signal crayfish is 10 pounds. 

Walking along the Sammamish River near the Leary Bridge a few weeks ago, I saw a young teenager in the river.  He was in a bathing suit with a net catching crayfish.   He was standing in the water a few feet from the shore, industriously turning over rocks and scooping.  He had caught about 20 crayfish.

He said they are "signal crayfish" and native to this area.  He's found them between 3.5 and 6 inches long.  I asked him what he planned to to do with his catch, and he said "eat them".  No license is required to catch crayfish in Washington, although the daily limit is ten pounds!!

He also netted a number of shellfish a little larger than the size of a quarter.  I contacted Peter Holte, Redmond's Habitat Stewardship Coordinator to learn more about the shellfish.  He said they were  Asian clams, an invasive species.  Notice that several of them have had their shells bored through by some kind of predator.

The clams originate in Southeast Asia and are eaten by the locals.  I even found some recipes for them on the internet. Anyone for Asian clam chowder?  

Story and photos by John Reinke
Redmond photographer
7/16  (edited for brevity)