PORTLAND, Maine — The nation’s clam haul is steadily dwindling, and a push to try to save it in the state with the largest industry is dividing harvesters, conservationists and scientists who question whether proposed new measures will help.
Maine is the country’s leading producer of soft-shell clams, which are steamed or used to make New England staples such as fried clams and clam chowder. The harvest has fallen in recent years to the point where the nationwide haul for 2017 and ’18 was the lowest for any two-year period in more than 60 years. In Maine, the shellfish business is challenged by growing populations of predators that eat clams and a declining number of clammers.
The Maine Legislature is set to consider a bill that would allow municipalities to establish their own minimum and maximum size limits for shellfish. Proponents, including presenting Democratic Rep. Joyce McCreight, said the change would allow towns to set stricter parameters than the state’s minimum of 2 inches.
The new limits would allow towns to protect larger clams, which have the ability to reproduce more as they get older and bigger, McCreight said.