Cook Inlet Razor Clam Harvest Now Requires a Permit

Anyone planning to dig razor clams along Cook Inlet or the North Gulf Coast this summer needs a permit.

That requirement did not exist until this season. Households and visiting recreational diggers now face a new permit-and-reporting burden that a sport fishing license alone no longer satisfies. "This permit was established at the March 2025 Board of Fisheries meeting and is now available and required for 2026 razor clam harvest," ADF&G said.

Some recreational clammers see the change as added bureaucracy compared with prior years' sport-license-only rules.

The permit follows a longer tightening of Cook Inlet razor clam management. West Cook Inlet's 10-gallon daily bag limit was put in effect in 2022, when previously there was no limit at all, and the new permit requirement extends that management arc into the 2026 season.

One permit per household covers all family members who plan to dig, and each member listed on the permit must be listed before heading out. In West Cook Inlet, each household member must dig their own clams under the 2026 emergency order, and all clams dug under the permit must be retained.

The daily limit on West Cook Inlet remains 10 gallons per person. East Cook Inlet sport and personal use razor clam fisheries are expected to remain closed in 2026; ADF&G conducts spring abundance surveys at Ninilchik and Clam Gulch and will open a limited East Cook Inlet season in August only if abundance thresholds are met.

The rule with the longest tail is the reporting obligation: "Each permit holder is responsible for reporting online by December 31, 2026, even if the permit holder did not harvest any razor clams. Permit holders who fail to report online by December 31, 2026, WILL NOT be eligible for a permit the following year." That consequence applies whether or not a household ever dug a single clam.