Charlotte Russ (left) received a more than $88,000 fine after her children collected clams they thought were seashells (Picture: ABC7)
A mother who took her children to the beach was left literally shell-shocked with an unexpected five-figure fine.
Charlotte Russ received a more than $88,000 ticket at Pismo Beach, California, for violating regulations she didn’t even know existed.
‘My kids they thought they were collecting seashells, but they were actually collecting clams, 72 to be exact,’ Russ told ABC7.
‘Right before we went, that’s when I opened it and that’s when I saw the amount.’
Charlotte Russ took her children to Pismo Beach in California (Picture: ABC7)
Her children collected 72 clams they believed were shells (Picture: ABC7)
Clamming regulations exist to protect the shellfish species, according to Lt Matthew Gil with the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
‘We have these regulations is because we have to let them get to four-and-a-half inches so they can spawn, so they can have offspring every year, and they have juvenile clams,’ Gil told the news outlet.
Russ, a Fresno resident, said the surprise ticket ‘made me really sad and depressed, and it kind of ruined our trip’.
The mom went before a San Luis Obispo County judge in court and explained her family’s unintended mistake and was fortunately able to get her fine lowered to $500.
The California mother said her family did not see signs warning against collecting clams (Picture: ABC7)
Charlotte Russ got a shellfish tattoo to remember the incident (Picture: ABC7)
Russ proceeded to get a shellfish tattoo with the number 72 to forever remember the incident and that her kids were great clam fishers.
‘So I got this after I “won” my case, in Pismo,’ she joked.
‘It was definitely one expensive trip to Pismo, unforgettable.’
The mother was able to lower her fine in court (Picture: ABC7)
Russ admitted that there were signs warning against clamming at the beach, but wished there were more because her children were focused on having fun and not reading the notices.
In 2023, 58 citations were issued in San Luis Obispo for clamming.
Russ stressed to other visitors at the beach to be aware of the regulations.
The mother warned other families against clamming (Picture: ABC7)
Pismo clams have both shells intact together, explained Gil.
‘If you have a dead sand dollar, a dead animal, or something like that, or you have a broken seashell,’ Gil said, ‘That’s fine.’
Russ was fined a couple months after a baby dolphin was found shot dead on West Mae’s Beach in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The gruesome discovery led the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to remind the public that the Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits killing, harming, harassing or feeding wild dolphins and violators can be fined up to $100,000 and face jail time.
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