Clam-demonia: Fresno woman fined $88K over kids’ ‘seashells’
- Woman fined for clamshells her children collected
- She thought they were seashells at the time
- Judge reduced fine to $500
Late Miocene bivalve (clam) fossils of the Empire Formation, Cape Blanco, Oregon. (Photo by: Marli Miller/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Officials fined a California mom more than $88,000 after the seashells her children collected on vacation turned out to be 72 clams.
Fresno woman Charlotte Russ and her children thought they were collecting seashells during their Pismo Beach trip, but a ticket bearing a hefty fine set the record straight.
Broken seashells and dead sand dollars are OK to bring home as souvenirs, but if you can’t take apart two shells, they’re likely clams, which are protected under state rules, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife told ABC 7.
California has regulations around clams so they can grow to 4 1/2 inches and spawn, a department spokesperson told ABC 7.
Russ explained the mistake, and a judge reduced her fine to $500, the outlet reported.
