History and Development of Surf Clam Harvesting Gear 



By 



PHILLIP S. PARKER, Fishenj Biologist 



National Marine Fishei-ies Service' 



Exploratory Fishing and Gear Research Base 



Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 



ABSTRACT 



The development of harvesting- gear for surf clams, Si/isnln solidissima, along 

 the eastern coast of the United States is reviewed from early times up to the 

 present. 



Early clamming was done by hand using rakes or tongs, while today the in- 

 dustry depends u])on large, efficient dredges operating from stable vessels. Little 

 gear development took place inior to World War II; however, since that time, the 

 industry has made rai^id strides in the develojiment of harvesting gear. Today 

 this trend is still very much in evidence, with gear constantly being modified for 

 adaptation to newer vessel tyjies. 



Most gear development work has been the result of the surf clam industry 

 itself. However, the Federal Government, in cooperation with industry, has de- 

 veloped several pieces of equipment for adaptation to clamming gear. 



INTRODUCTION 



The history of the development of harvest- 

 ing gear for surf clams, Spisnla solidissima. 

 along the eastern coast of the United States 

 has been only touched upon by various authors 

 reporting on this species. However, to date, 

 no comprehensive description of the gear has 

 been written. Prior to World War II, the ef- 

 fort for development of this type of gear was 

 rather limited. Probably this was because the 

 harvesting equipment used at that time was 

 sufiicient to maintain an adequate supply of 

 surf clams for both fish bait and the limited 

 market available for human consumiition. The 

 World War II years, with the search for good 



' Formerly Bureau of Commercial Fisheries Explor- 

 atory Fishing and Gear Research Base, Gloucester, 

 Mass. 01930. 



sources of high i^'otein food by both Govern- 

 ment and industry, provided the impetus for 

 a tremendous increase in the market demand 

 for surf clams. Due to this demand, rapid de- 

 velojiment of a variety of surf clam harvesting 

 gear followed. Many kinds of dredges were 

 devised by the industry before the hydraulic 

 jet dredge was develoi^ed. Difl^'erent types of 

 hauling gear and boat sizes were also tried 

 during this period. 



Today further radical changes are being 

 made to the so-called "standard" hydraulic jet 

 dredge in an effort to increase its efficiency. 

 Prior to 19(53, clam gear research and devel- 

 opment were exclusively inirsued by the surf 

 clam industry. This group had been respon- 

 sible for almost all of the changes in the de- 

 sign and modification of the clam harvesting 

 equipment. However, units of the National 



