May 30, 2017 — A fisheries science center is funding research projects designed to learn more about a pair of valuable ocean clams.
The work will concern the ocean quahog and surf clam, which are clams of high economic value that are fished along the East Coast. They are popular in chowders and other seafood dishes.
The Science Center for Marine Fisheries is funding the research as part of $200,000 it is allocating for a host of fisheries research projects. The science center is a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center.
The research will include a project to try to explain changes in the abundance of ocean quahogs. There will also be a survey of surf clams southeast of Nantucket that the science center says will be the first of its kind.