A possible resurgence of invasive green crabs poses a threat to Casco Bay’s soft-shell clams

860780_945412-20160421_Clams002Soft-shell clams are a summer tradition around Casco Bay, both for the tourists and residents who love steamers and for the clam diggers who turn long, backbreaking hours on the mud flats into cold, hard cash. But an infestation of invasive green crabs ravaged juvenile clam stocks in the past four years, adding to ecological changes, competition for coastal access and other pressures facing the state’s second most valuable fishery. Clam landings in the Casco Bay communities of Freeport, Harpswell and Brunswick, some of the state’s leading clam producers, plummeted to historic lows in 2015, and the scarcity of soft-shell clams contributed to all-time high prices. Read the rest here 09:21

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