They can dig it: New England clammers press through pandemic

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — For New England's vanishing commercial clam harvesters, the coronavirus pandemic represents only the most recent in a string of setbacks that have held down the centuries-old industry.

The clamdiggers, who pull softshell clams for use in chowders and clambakes from tidal muck, have weathered an aging workforce, relentless predators that eat shellfish, warming waters and fickle markets. This summer's pandemic has held back few of the clamdiggers from plying their trade in the coastal clam flats that have fed their customers for generations, members of the industry said.

Buyers have rewarded the clammers with prices that have held up better than many sectors of the beleaguered seafood industry, which has suffered a significant economic hit from the pandemic. But some clammers said the disruption wrought by the pandemic has still created yet another difficulty to deal with.

“If they shut down the borders now, like they did before, we’d be in some big trouble. We rely on shipping,” said Wendell Cressey, a Harpswell, Maine, clammer. “Not only do we need the tourists to be able to come here and visit, but we need to be able to ship them around the country."

America's industry for the wild harvesting of softshell clams, also called steamers, is located almost entirely in Maine and Massachusetts. Both states have seen their harvests dip in recent years. Maine clammers have failed to top 1.6 million pounds of clam meat for four straight years after routinely harvesting two or three times that amount in decades past.

The clams are worth about $2 per pound at the docks in a good year, and they're close to that number this year, said Clint Goodenow, treasurer of the Maine Clammers Association. Prices sank in the spring, when seafood supply chains were severely disrupted around the country due to...