Saving Seafood

Request for Public Input on Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota Program Review

April 9, 2019 — The following was released by the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council is seeking public comments on a review of the Atlantic Surfclam and Ocean Quahog Individual Transferable Quota (ITQ) Program. Comments are due by May 8, 2019.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Catch Share Policy prepared in 2010 indicates that periodic reviews are expected of all Limited Access Privilege Programs (LAPPs). This program review report for the Surfclam and Ocean Quahog ITQ fishery covers the time period prior to and after implementation of the program in 1990 and provides a detailed evaluation of the ITQ program since its inception.

The program review document is available on the Council’s website at: http://www.mafmc.org/comments/scoq-itq-review

Comments are due by May 8, 2019 and may be sent by any of the following methods:

Comments are due by May 8, 2019 and may be sent by any of the following methods:

Please include “SCOQ ITQ Review” in the subject line if using email or fax or on the outside of the envelope if submitting written comments.

Please direct any questions about the review to Jessica Coakley at jcoakley@mafmc.org or (302) 526-5252.

Inside Rhode Island’s Quahog Industry, A Shrinking Workforce

April 8, 2019 — “What I’m trying to do is I’m trying to get underneath all the shells and try to get to the quahogs,” says Dave Ghigliotti. He’s been a shellfisherman in Rhode Island for over 30 years. I went with him to dig for quahogs just off of Rocky Point State Park in Narragansett Bay.

There’s some debate over the name quahog. Some people use it to talk about the biggest clams. But basically all the hard shelled clams we eat here in Rhode Island are one species: the Northern Quahog. Other names you might have heard — like littlenecks, topnecks, cherrystones or chowder clams — describe the different sizes.

When Ghigliotti got into the business, there were about 2,000 licensed commercial quahoggers in the state. Now, the number is less than half that.

Some left the industry because the money isn’t great. Ghigliotti says clam prices have barely gone up since the ’80s. And, he adds, quahoggers have to compete for space on the bay with the growing number of oyster farms.

“That industry’s growing, so they’re always looking for space. And the problem is, once they lease a piece of real estate we can’t fish it anymore. We’re really pretty migratory. You see these guys here today, but once this place has had kind of its day, we move on to another place,” Ghigliorri says.

Read the full story at WBUR

Science center to fund research into surf clams, quahogs

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.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at NH1

With clams under siege, Maine’s Casco Bay is seeing an oyster boom

May 27, 2017 — Two years ago, Dave Hunter floated 200,000 tiny seed oysters in 4-millimeter mesh bags off Snow Island in Quahog Bay.

A full-time Brunswick firefighter, Hunter also worked as caretaker for the island, which had just been purchased by Patrick and Mary Scanlan — and Pat Scanlan wanted to dig some clams.

“Just a few clams out front, but he couldn’t because the bay would be closed each summer because boats would come in [and degrade the water],” Hunter said. “He said, ‘what do we do?’”

One mid-May afternoon, Hunter sped across the calm waters of Quahog Bay and around behind Snow Island before slowing his boat and hauling up a mesh bag full of those same oysters, now about 2½ inches long.

“A ‘cocktail’ might be a two-chew,” he said, pointing to a smaller oyster. “A ‘select’ might be a four-chew.”

Hunter scrubbed them with a brush, then shucked them and passed them around the salty-sweet oysters.

Since that first year, when Scanlan established the Quahog Bay Conservancy and began cleaning up the bay, about 70,000 of the original 200,000 Snow Island Oysters have been sold and shipped as far away as Chicago and Texas. Last year the oyster farmers started another 100,000 seed, and plan to start another 100,000 in July.

Read the full story at Bangor Daily News

Suggestions sought on Atlantic surfclam and ocean quahog paperwork

August 10, 2015 — If you’ve got any ideas for improving the information needed from ocean quahog and Atlantic surfclam fishermen, now is your time to make them. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States Department of Commerce is announcing in the Federal Register of Monday, Aug. 10, 2015 that it is opening up a public comment period on the information requirements by the the Atlantic Surfclam & Ocean Quahog Fishery Management Plan. NOAA is taking public comments through Oct. 9.

Read the full story from Examiner.com