P UNC Sea Grant 



V 



library 



March, 1982 



ri APR 5 1982" 



COAST 4 WATCH 



Photo by Steven Wilson 



The hard clam, Mercenaria mercenaria 



Getting a clam 

 Out of bed 



North Carolina fishermen say 

 there's more than one way to get clams 

 from the estuary to the table. They 

 rake, tong, "sign," kick and dredge 

 hard clams from their estuarine beds. 



Found from Nova Scotia to the 

 Yucatan, the hard clam (Mercenaria 

 mercenaria) is classified as a bivalve 

 mollusk, meaning it has two valves or 

 shells and a soft body. The hard clam 

 lives in coastal creeks, bays and 

 sounds, burrowed several inches below 

 the sediment, feeding on food filtered 

 from the water. 



Clams are graded by size and priced 

 accordingly. The chowder clam, whose 

 name implies its use, is the largest hard 

 clam, but it brings fishermen the 

 smallest return. The cherrystone, a 

 medium-sized hard clam bringing 

 medium prices, is served raw or 

 steamed. The littleneck, the smallest 

 and most expensive hard clam, is used 

 in the half-shell trade and is also 

 steamed. Clams bring from about eight 

 to 13 cents apiece, depending on the 

 size and the supply. 



Indians, the first clammers along the 

 eastern United States shoreline, ate 

 the soft-bodied clam and used its shell 

 to make bead necklaces called wam- 

 pum. Wampum originally had a sacred 

 significance, but after the arrival of the 

 European settlers it was used as money 

 for trade. 



Traditionally most clammers, rec- 

 reational and commercial, have used 

 either rakes or tongs to unearth clams 

 from the estuarine bottom. Most hand 

 clamming occurs during warmer 

 Continued on next page 



