Tag Archives: Chad Coffin
In New England, “The resource keeps diminishing.” Clammers Dig Through The Pandemic For Fewer Shellfish
In Maine, the largest clam producing state, fishermen produced their lowest haul in more than 90 years at a little more than 1.3 million pounds in 2020. Nationwide totals aren’t compiled yet, but Maine’s haul typically accounts for more than half the U.S. total, and hauls in other clamming states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York have been trending downward in recent years. “The resource keeps diminishing.” The clamming industry has had to contend with more marine predators of clams such as green crabs and milky ribbon worm in recent years. >click to read< 13:33
Maine man spent more than $100,000 to dredge for quahog. Now the practice might be banned.
Raymond “Bucky” Alexander figures he has at least $100,000 and several years invested in rebuilding his boat and crafting, by hand, the iron dredger he’s used this summer to dredge for quahogs in the New Meadows River. He checked with the Maine Marine Patrol about the law, and early this spring, when he headed down the river, he and his cousin, West Bath Shellfish Warden Doug Alexander, set out buoys to mark the subtidal area, the part of the river that is underwater even at low tide, where the law says he can dredge. >click to read<09:54
Harvest of clams continues to dwindle in New England
The clam fishery is coping with a declining number of fishermen, a warming ocean, harmful algal blooms in the marine environment and growing populations of predator species, said regulators and scientists who study the fishery. It leaves clammers like Chad Coffin, of Freeport, Maine, concerned the harvest will decline to the point it will be difficult to make a living. “It has been a gradual decline, and it’s getting to the point where there’s a tremendous amount of acreage that’s not producing anymore,” Coffin said. “It should drop significantly more over the next two years.” >click to read<18:38
