1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



Landings 

 (X 1,000 t) 



10 - 



9 



6 - 



5 - 



4 - 



3 - 



2 - 



1 - 



- 



Figure 21-2 



Landings of hardshell clam, 

 shoftshell clam, and blue 

 mussel from the Gulf and At- 

 lantic Coasts, in metric tons 

 (t). 



Processing steamed clams, 

 Kent Narrows. Maryland. 



Hardshell clam 

 Blue mussel 

 Softshell clam 



Year 



sharply in Great South Bay and Barnegat Bay. In 

 recent years, hard clam hatchery production has 

 been substantial along the U.S. east coast in re- 

 sponse to the increased market demand for little- 

 necks (the smallest and most expensive market cat- 

 egory). Current levels of landings are about half 

 of the early l')SO's level (Figure 21-2). Ex-vessel 

 value of landings has been around $.^S,()00,()0() 

 in recent years. 



Softshell clam landings, which have declined 

 since the late 1960's (Figure 21-2), continue to 

 decline in the largest producing areas, Maine and 

 Maryland. For yet unexplained reasons, the clams 

 have failed to reproduce in quantity in eastern 

 Maine, a large producer of clams in the past, and 

 diseases (sarcomas and Perkinsus) may be the prin- 

 cipal reason for the decline in stocks in Maryland. 

 Clam abundance in Massachusetts, which now 

 produces slightly more clams than Maine, has re- 

 mained about level due to consistently good an- 

 nual sets of seed and programs to dcptirate 

 (cleanse) clams harvested from contaminated 

 grounds. Current landings, around 1 ,000 t, are 

 valued at about $8,000,0000-$ 10,000,000. 



Abundance of bltie mussels in nearshore areas 

 of Maine and Massachusetts, which produce nearly 

 all the landings ft)r the region, has declined slightly 

 in recent years. During the 1 980's and early 1 990's, 

 landings increased markedly (Figure 21-2). Sup- 

 plies and both market demand and prices have 

 been good and steady in recent years. 



The bay scallop is the most sensitive commer- 

 cial molltisk to environmental perturbations, and 

 its abundance remains low throughout the region 

 because of the presence of adverse algal blooms, 

 declines in abundance of eelgrass, and other prob- 

 lems. Rhode island and eastern Long Island, which 

 once produced large quantities of bay scallops, now 

 have sparse stocks because dense algal blooms or 

 "brown tide" kill the scallops. Scallop abundance 

 and landings in Massachusetts have declined 

 slightly in the past year or two, but are well below 

 the levels experienced in the late 1970's and early 

 1 980's as a result of lost habitat and increased nimi- 

 bers of predators. 



Conchs or whelks are harvested from Massa- 

 chusetts through New York with pots and in Vir- 

 ginia with dredges. Landings and the sizes of 

 conchs landed have both declined slightly in re- 

 sponse to steady harvesting from Massachusetts 

 through New York, but landings have been stable 

 in Chesapeake Bay (Virginia). Periwinkles, har- 

 vested only in Maine, have declined in abundance 

 because of intense harvesting. Increased numbers 

 of fishermen are now, for the first time, using 

 dredges and rakes to harvest periwinkles to supple- 



2 1 6 



