05/01/26: ALL recreational shellfishing areas are seasonally CLOSED May 1 through Oct 31 per Bureau of Aquaculture
11/13/25: Recreational shellfishing areas A and B are OPEN
11/12/25: Water samples collected and delivered to the Bureau of Aquaculture for testing.
11/07/25: Clam samples passed, but the water samples failed. We will try again next week.
11/04/25: Water and clam samples collected and delivered to the Bureau of Aquaculture for testing.
10/30/25: All recreational shellfishing areas in Clinton are CLOSED due to >1.5″ rain.
10/04/25: Recreational shellfishing areas A and B are OPEN
05/01/25: Due to frequent clam sample testing failures in the summer months, the Bureau of Aquaculture has ordered Clinton to close ALL recreational clamming beds from May 1 through October 31.
03/28/25: We collected clam and water samples on 3/25 and drove them to the Bureau of Aquaculture lab in Milford. We just got the results and are clear to reopen the recreational clamming beds.
02/26/25: Areas A&B are OPEN. Water and clam samples collected on 2/24 tested good by the Bureau of Aquaculture.
02/17/25: We received > 1.50″ precip over the past 24 hours, so ALL shellfishing areas are CLOSED. We will test water and meat samples as soon as possible.
10/09/24: Areas A&B are OPEN! The last few samples we delivered tested good so the Bureau of Aquaculture has reopened us. Thank you for your patience through the long summer months. And thank you to all of our commissioners and volunteers who helped us to continue testing every couple of weeks for the past five months.
09/03/24: After repeated meat testing failures this summer, the Bureau of Aquaculture has asked us to stop submitting additional samples for testing until October. Areas A&B remain CLOSED. We have begun submitting meat samples from an area off of Shore Rd with the hope of being able to open that to recreational shellfishermen. It may take a year or two before the Bureau has enough sample data to open that area, but we are ready to do the additional sampling work required.
07/24/24: Commissioners collected water samples from all 12 stations on the 22nd, clams early AM on the 23rd. Samples were driven to Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford. We should have results Fri the 26th.
07/07/24: We rec’d about 3 inches of rain yesterday. After that much rain, the clams will need at least a week of fairly dry conditions to get cleaned up. We’ll sample again as soon as the Bureau of Aquaculture gives us the green light.
07/02/24: Last week’s samples also failed unfortunately. The holiday this week, plus the last rainfall means that we need to wait until next week to resample.
06/25/24: Small craft advisories 6/23 and 24 kept us from sampling, but we’ll grab water and clam samples this afternoon and tonight, drive them to Milford Wed AM. Results back Fri.
06/20/24: We’ve sampled (water and clams) each week since the closure back in May. One or the other has failed each week. Our next sampling attempt will most likely occur this Sunday, delivering samples to Milford first thing Mon AM. We should get the results on Wed.
06/08/24: Another set of meat and water samples was collected on 6/4 and driven to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford for testing. On 6/9 we rec’d word that both sets of samples failed. We will schedule another test run soon.
05/25/24: We were notified on the 24th that the meat samples we delivered failed, so we remain CLOSED. We’ll collect and deliver another set of samples this week.
05/22/24: Commissioners collected clam samples at 5am, and water samples at 1pm. Then a commissioner drove the samples to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford for testing. Should have results by 5/24.
05/16/24: Areas A&B are CLOSED due to excessive rainfall
04/19/24: Areas A&B are OPEN as of sunrise today.
04/04/24: We received about 2 inches of rain between 4/2 and 4/4 which will keep us closed. When we get a few dry days in a row, we’ll collect samples for testing.
03/23/24: We received > 1.5″ of rain in this latest storm (2.25″ so far!) so all areas are CLOSED. We will collect and deliver water and clam samples for testing again soon.
03/20/24: Commissioners collected water and clam samples 3/18 and drove them to the Bureau of Aquaculture lab in Milford. The lab just notified us that we are cleared to reopen.
3/02/24: We received > 1.5″ of rain today and that’s our closure trigger this time of year. Areas A&B are now closed.
01/28/24: Areas A&B are OPEN as of sunrise today.
01/10/24: Over 3 inches of rain, all areas are CLOSED at this time. We will collect water and meat samples as soon as the water has cleared, and get those to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford for testing. Stay tuned.
12/29/23: Bureau of Aquaculture cleared us to reopen.
12/26/23: Water samples collected for testing. Clam and water samples driven by Commissioner to Bureau of Aquaculture lab in Milford for testing.
12/25/23: Clam samples collected for testing
12/11/23: Areas A&B are CLOSED due to excessive rainfall. We will get water and meat samples to the Bureau of Aquaculture as soon as the water clears up.
11/08/23: We’re open again! Thanks for your patience, and thanks to the volunteer Commissioners for all of their sampling work these past few rainy months. Go clamming!
11/06/23: We’ve sampled 3 times since closing on 10/21. Latest water and clam samples collected and delivered to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford today. Should have the results this Thurs, 11/09.
10/21/23: Over 1″ of rain yesterday has closed both areas. We’ll resample/test as soon as conditions warrant.
10/20/23: Just got the results from the clams we submitted for testing Wed and we are clear to reopen both Area A and B. During this latest closure, we restocked hard clams in both areas. Go get ’em!
10/07/23: Multiple >1 inch rain events have kept all recreational shellfishing areas CLOSED. We’re still looking for a dry spell so we can collect meat and water samples for testing.
09/18/23: Areas A&B are CLOSED due to excessive rainfall. We will get water and meat samples to the Bureau of Aquaculture as soon as possible to see when it’s safe to reopen.
08/31/23: Areas A and B are now open. We restocked both areas at the beginning of the summer, so get out there and get some clams!
08/30/23: Area B is OPEN! The recent water and clam samples passed! Thank you for your patience as we continued to test all summer. We’ll work on opening Area A now.
08/26/23: We’ve sampled a number of times since the last update, but due to the frequent heavy rains the samples have continued to fail. We’ll sample again 8/27 (clams and water samples) and deliver them to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford for testing early on 8/28. Results in 2-3 days.
08/05/23: After all the rains north of us, the last set of samples also failed. We are sampling again on Monday, Aug 7.
07/23/23: Dry forecast ahead will give the water a chance to clear up. We will collect water and meat samples Tues or Wed and deliver them to the lab in Milford for testing. Results should be in by Fri.
07/14/23: The water samples we delivered on 07/11 passed, but the meat samples did not pass. The clams take a while to purge. We remain CLOSED. We will resample for meats in the week ahead if we don’t receive too much rain.
07/11/23: Water samples (from the Hammonasset River to Duck Island) and meat samples (clams from the recreational beds) were collected and driven to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford.
07/04/23: Received over 1″ of rain, all recreational areas in Clinton are now closed.
06/23/23: Received approval from the Bureau of Aquaculture to reopen Area B.
06/21/23: The last set of samples tested well, but after such a long stretch of failed samples, the Bureau of Aquaculture requested one more set of samples for testing before we reopen. That sample was delivered this morning (06/21) and we should hear back on Friday, 06/23/23. However, the weather ahead looks very rainy which will most likely lead to closures up and down the CT coastline.
06/18/23: Another set of samples was delivered for testing on 06/14. We are still waiting for the Bureau of Aquaculture’s approval to reopen. We are in almost daily contact with them. We appreciate your patience.
06/08/23: We just received word that the last set of samples also failed. Bacteria levels are still too high for safe consumption. You might have also noticed that the town beaches closed due to high bacteria levels. We will continue to work with the Bureau of Aquaculture to see when we can submit samples again.
06/05/23: Last week’s clam samples still had bacteria levels too high to reopen. So we collected samples from two locations in Area B just before dawn today. These were delivered to the Bureau of Aquaculture in Milford before 9AM. We should get the results by 6/8.
06/02/23: The samples we delivered on 05/30 were much improved, but still too high for the Bureau of Aquaculture to reopen our beds. We will collect samples again at dawn on 06/05 and drive them to Milford that morning. We should get the results 06/07 or 06/08.
We restocked clams Wed and Thurs evenings. We have one more batch of clams coming to us this week to wrap up our Spring restocking effort.
05/30/23: Both Area A and B are closed at this time. Bacteria levels in the clams are still coming back high after the rains weeks ago. We’ve collected samples and driven them to the Bureau of Aquaculture lab in Milford every week. The last samples were delivered to the lab 05/30 and we are waiting on those results.
We are making the best of the closure though by doing our semi-annual restocking with clams we purchase from a nearby farmer.
As soon as the Bureau of Aquaculture gives us the green light, we will change the phone recording, update the website, and flip the signs to reopen Area B.