{"id":2175638,"date":"2024-05-27T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-27T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/?p=2175638"},"modified":"2024-05-25T10:58:49","modified_gmt":"2024-05-25T09:58:49","slug":"california-mother-is-stunned-by-whopping-89k-fine-after-her-son-collected-what-he-thought-were-seashells-from-popular-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusingonwildlife.com\/news\/california-mother-is-stunned-by-whopping-89k-fine-after-her-son-collected-what-he-thought-were-seashells-from-popular-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"California mother is stunned by whopping $89K fine after her son collected what he thought were seashells from popular beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

A mother has been forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars after her children were caught collecting dozens of clams.<\/p>\n

Charlotte Russ of Fresno took her five children on a family vacation to Pismo Beach, California, at the end of last year. Her curious children started collecting seashells – or so they thought.<\/p>\n

‘My kids they thought they were collecting seashells, but they were actually collecting clams, 72 to be exact,’ Fresno resident Charlotte Russ told ABC 7.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, clamming is highly regulated in California. If you don’t have a fishing license or the clams are small, catching clams is off limits.<\/p>\n

She received a citation right there on the beach and was later notified she has to pay close to $89,000 for her kids’ seemingly innocent treasure hunt.<\/p>\n

\"Charlotte<\/a>
Charlotte Russ of Fresno took her five children on a family vacation to Pismo Beach, California, at the end of last year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Her curious children started collecting seashells – or so they thought. They actually collected 72 clams – a highly illegal practice in California if you don’t have a license<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

‘It made me really sad and depressed, and it kind of ruined our trip,’ said Russ.<\/p>\n

But the rules are in place for a reason, Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Lieutenant Matthew Gil told the outlet<\/p>\n

‘The reason we got it we have these regulations is because we have to let them get to 4 and a half inches so they can spawn so they can have they can have offspring every year, and they have juvenile clams,’ said Lt. Gil.<\/p>\n

Gil stressed the importance of becoming familiar with wildlife regulations and how to identify the different animals.<\/p>\n

He said you can tell a clam apart from other mollusks based on how hard it is to pull apart their shell.<\/p>\n