OLYMPIA – Fishery managers have tentatively scheduled a three-day razor clam dig March 16 to March 18 at various ocean beaches, including the Peninsula, on evening tides.

Final word on the dig will be announced about a week ahead of time, once marine toxin tests determine whether clams on those beaches remain safe to eat.

The dig planned next month is the last chance this season to harvest razor clams on afternoon tides, although fishery managers may open some beaches for morning digging in April, said Dan Ayres, coastal shellfish manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“We’d like to provide some morning clam-digging opportunities in April, but first we’ll have to assess how many clams are available for harvest after the scheduled dig in March,” Ayres said.

If the March dig proceeds as planned, diggers will have to be especially attentive to which beaches are open each day of the three-day opening, he said.

“As we get toward the end of the season, we have to juggle openings according to the number of clams still available for harvest at each beach,” Ayres said. As currently scheduled, the following beaches will be open for razor clam digging between noon and midnight on the following days:

? March 16, Friday – Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Mocrocks (low evening tide: 5:31 p.m., +0.1 ft.)

? March 17, Saturday – All beaches: Long Beach, Twin Harbors, Copalis, Mocrocks, Kalaloch (low evening tide: 6:16 p.m., -0.1 ft.)

? March 18, Sunday – Long Beach, Twin Harbors and Kalaloch (low evening tide: 6:58 p.m. -0.1 ft.)

No digging will be allowed before noon any of those days.