How to Gather Moon Snails

The moon snail is the quiet predator of the clam flats - a big, round-shelled sea snail that plows just beneath the sand hunting clams, drilling a neat hole through their shells. You will often meet them while digging clams, along with the strange, rubbery 'sand collar' they leave as an egg case. Most people step over them, but the large foot is genuinely good eating once you know how to handle it, making the moon snail a rewarding, offbeat catch.

Why go for them

They are an easy bonus - already there on the flats where you dig clams, needing no special gear, and offering a large, meaty foot that eats a little like abalone once tenderised. For the curious forager, they turn a clam trip into a two-for-one and add an unusual dish that few people ever try.

Where and when to find them

Moon snails live on and just under sand and mud flats, plowing shallow furrows as they hunt buried clams, exposed at low tide. Look for the snails themselves surfacing on the flat, for their plow trails, and for the distinctive sandy collar egg cases. They are easiest to gather on a good low tide in the cooler months.

How to catch them

Simply pick them up by hand off the flat at low tide, or feel for them just beneath the surface where you see a plow trail; no gear beyond a bucket and gloves is needed. Take only what you will use, from clean water, and step carefully on soft ground.

Handling, cleaning and cooking

Blanch the snail briefly to firm and release the foot, then pull the meat from the shell, trim away the guts, and clean the large foot. The meat is dense, so slice it thin across the grain and either pound and quick-sear it or simmer it long and slow in a stew until tender - treat it much as you would tough abalone or whelk. Cook thoroughly.

Safety and the law

Gather moon snails only from clean, open, certified-safe flats, heeding any local closures. Biotoxin closures apply to them too: Washington's health department notes that moon snails and other gastropods can accumulate paralytic shellfish poison, and that cooking or freezing does not destroy it. The meat must be properly cleaned, tenderised and cooked. Watch soft mud and the tide as you would on any flat, and never get cut off. Shellfish is a serious allergen. Read our shellfish safety guide.