AP interviews Beal about state’s soft-shell clam harvest
The Associated Press spoke with Brian Beal, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias, for a report about Maine’s soft-shell clam harvest. Clams that are harvested by hand and raked from the state’s mudflats are becoming less plentiful due to threats including an uptick in predation from green crabs and milky ribbon worms, and increasing ocean acidification, the AP reported. Stabilizing the industry for the long term will mean adapting to changing environmental conditions, according to Beal. The heightened predation from the crabs and worms has tracked in line with rising coastal water temperatures, which are predicted to keep rising, he said. Beal said the predators are the clams’ biggest threat. One way for fishermen to cope with them is by employing strategies such as putting netting around areas of mudflats where clams grow and planting clam seed in protected areas, he said. “If we don’t adapt, we’re going to be dead in the water,” Beal said. “Unfortunately, our environment has changed.” ABC News, Minneapolis Star Tribune and Portland Press Herald carried the AP report.