Clam diggers have been a fixture of the Maine shoreline ever since the first intrepid colonist placed a slimy bi-valve in his mouth and thought that it might make decent bait. Later diggers decided that if clams were good enough for bait then they were good enough to sell to the “flatlanders from away.” Today 2100 licensed diggers vie for territory on Maine’s mud flats. Methods of harvesting clams haven’t changed and the tourists still buy them, whatever the price.

Digging clams is a tough way to make a living.  The following web sites provide an overview of soft-shelled clams and hard-boiled clammers.
 

•  The History of the Clam Industry .  The clamming industry is chronicled from 1641 to the present by the retired head of Maines Department of Marine Resources.  The numbers of reported bushels harvested run from nearly 578,000 bushels in 1898 to the 96,000 bushel low in 1959 caused by green crab predation.

•  Legal Considerations Regarding Restoration of Productive Clam Flats in Maine.   The clam fishery is under siege from several quarters. Access to flats shrinks, pollution strikes hard and fast, towns budget large revenues that protect a small number of jobs. This site explores the responsibilities of municipalities and the state to a vulnerable resource.

•  FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1999 .   Page 11 of this report breaks out the numbers for the 1999 clam harvest for the fishery as a whole and the Maine soft-shelled clam contribution.

•  MAINE DEPARTMENT OF MARINE RESOURCES: BUREAU OF RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Annual Report 2001.   The very bottom of this report has a graph of 50 years of clam harvests by millions of pounds and the dollar value. 

• 2001 Catch Specifications for Surf Clams, Ocean Quahogs and Maine Mahogany Quahogs. This is the study commissioned by the National Marine Fisheries Service that looks at the fishery and analyses policy decisions regarding the industry.

• D&B $mall Business $olutions .   Dun & Bradstreet will, for $24.99, let you have their industry report for United States Fisheries-shellfish  (SIC91300.)

•  Clam Pamphlet .   Why are clam flats closed? This Department of Marine Resources web site lists the various reasons for closing flats to shellfish harvesting. Reasons range from conservation closures to red tide alerts. 

•  Casco Bay Plan: Clam Flats and Swimming Areas.    This is a general overview of the state of health of Casco Bay and the factors involved in maintaining the environment. The focus is on septic and overboard discharge system failures. MaineToday.com, a Blethen newspaper, underwrote this unsigned study. 

•  Red Tide Gets Rapid Response.     Red Tide is explained in this June 2000 article from the Portland Press Herald.  It is a naturally occuring algae bloom that is ingested by shellfish and can be fatal to shellfish consumers.  Red tide contamination forces closures of clam flats.

•  Soft-shelled Clams: Setting Research Priorities.    This report taken from Commercial Fisheries News summarizes the meetings held by the Department of Marine Resources to involve diggers in coordinated conservation efforts.  The economic impact of flat closures is examined.

•  Cleansing Process Rids Clams of Contamination.  A private company’s response to pollution: Spinney Creek Shellfish Company is Maine’s only depuration company and decontaminates 100 bushels of clams daily. Still,… would you eat them?

•  Greater Portland Living: Jack Cloutier , clam digger.   Jack Cloutier, profiled in this Reality X article, is representative of many working clam diggers.  They are independent, prefer to work with tides and calendars, and file their own tax returns.

•  The Opportunities and Threats of Coastal Development .   This Maine Public Radio roundtable discussion focussed on how pressures of residential construction, recreational boating, aquaculture and tourist-centered industries affect what remains of Maine’s working waterfronts.  The dynamics of development  have radically altered how and where commercial diggers live.

•  Part-time Lobsterman Hates All the Rules.  Clark Jones, age 93, expresses quite graphically the sentiments of clam diggers and lobstermen in their relationships with authority.

•  Clammers Say Harpswell's Too Expensive .  Clam diggers need to be residents of the towns in which they dig. What happens when housing costs drive them out?  Diggers and fishermen can’t afford to live in the shore homes they grew up in. 

•  Deputy’s Actions Criticized .  Clam diggers suffer from image problems. Many are considered morally under-developed, “lucky at finding things,” and having only a nodding acquaintance with truthfulness.  Law enforcement is often burdened with corroborating a digger’s claim. The town of Harpswell, however, is fortunate to have creative thinkers among it sheriff’s deputies although their discretion often goes unappreciated.

•  Shutting Off Access To The Flats For Clammers And Wormers.   Summer homes are cropping up all along the coast and those homeowners “from away” are uncomfortable with diggers crossing their property to get to flats.  There is a clash of cultures that is unlikely to fall out in favor of the diggers.