South Carolina recreational oyster and clam season is open through May 15

South Carolina’s recreational oyster and clam season is open. The Department of Natural Resources said the 2026–27 season started a half hour before official sunrise on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, and runs through May 15, 2027, unless conditions force a shorter or longer season.

Recreational harvest is allowed on Public Shellfish Grounds and State Shellfish Grounds that are in open or approved water, as marked on the shellfish maps. Twenty public grounds and seven state grounds are recreational only. Another 58 state grounds are open to both recreational and commercial harvest. A recreational harvester needs a saltwater recreational fishing license. The recreational limit is two U.S. bushels of oysters and one-half bushel of clams a day, and harvest is limited to two calendar days in any seven-day period. One U.S. bushel is eight gallons. A boat or vehicle may hold no more than three personal limits. Clams have to be at least one inch thick.

Storms, heavy rain, or a pollution spill can close beds temporarily through the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, formerly SCDHEC. SCDNR tells harvesters to check the closure line at 1-800-285-1618 or the SCDES map before they go. The release also asks people to cull in place — break off dead shell and small oysters and leave them on the shoreline — and to recycle eaten shell. The shell-recycling line in the release is (843) 953-9397. Shell dropped in an SCDNR receptacle becomes state property and is illegal to take back out.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: SCDNR — South Carolina shellfish harvest season opens October 1 (Sept. 25, 2026; season opened Oct. 1, 2026).