Beal interviewed by Boston Globe about New England’s soft-shell clam industry

Brian Beal, cooperating research professor of marine ecology and research director of the Downeast Institute, spoke to the Boston Globe about the soft-shell clam industry in New England. The Boston Globe reported that clams have been disappearing in recent years, and Maine’s $18.2 million soft-shell clam industry is tanking. “We’re at a point where there’s so few clams that no one that’s alive right now has seen this few clams on flats,” Beal said.

Beal pointed out that the only massive clam declines have been associated with mild winters, which allow for invasive green crabs to flourish.