Nets pulled behind kicking boats harvest clams kicked up by 

 propeller wash. 



"Clam kicking was a boon for this area about 20 years ago," says 

 Austin. "A lot of homes were built here in eastern Carteret County with 

 clam money." 



DMF statistics support his observation. Statewide, harvests in 

 pounds of hard clams more than doubled between 1 976 and 1 977 — 

 from about 306,000 to almost 740,000 pounds. By 1 980, harvests had 

 risen to over 1 .5 million pounds. The dollar value increased from about 

 $258,000 in 1976 to more than $5.5 million in 1980. 



And Austin suggests that the numbers may actually have been 

 higher because the more accurate trip-ticket method of recording 

 harvests was not started until about 10 years ago. 



But the success of clam kicking was not without a down side. State 



harvests of hard clams began dropping in the early 1990s to just under 

 620,000 pounds in 2002, according to DMF figures. 



"One problem is that it is so efficient that, if not carefully 

 managed, it's easy to deplete the resource," says Austin, who has a 

 degree in biology and has taught environmental science at the high 

 school level. He also is on the board of directors for Crossroads, an 

 environmental advocacy group in Carteret County. 



Austin says he kicked clams until about five years ago when the 

 area he was working in Core Sound became too depleted to be worthwhile. 



"There are some who like to talk about natural cycles" to explain 

 the decreased clam harvests, Austin explains. But he contends the 

 "very efficient" method of clam kicking is the more likely explanation. 



The new rotation plan for alternating clam kicking between northern 



C o n t i n u e d 



COASTWATCH 17 



