Good post, all fact and no sentiment.
1+1= xGood thing his name ain’t "Dr. James E. Hansen “, Right?
I believe it clamfarmer, there are years of data and evidence that softshelled clams and oysters are going to really be hurting as our climate changes and warms. State and federal governments should really be experimenting with new propagation methods and regulations in order to enhance bed and or eliminate predators (green crabs) to help the clams and clammers or start looking at other possible organisms that could be exploited commercially.
it looks like using the ocean as a toilet for the last 500 years is starting to catch up to us.
I have no idea what you are on, I mean trying to say.
Clams don't bulk up in prep for the spawn no more than a man does before spreading seed. They are stationary shellfish not migratory spawners about to travel thousands of miles. They increase meat volume in the spring because feed is more abundant in the spring and summer. Volume also varies highly by location, current, soil medium, etc. I operated a shucking shop for a long time and you could tell where a Clam came from just by yield. Wards cove always produced 5 quarts to the 50. Walk literally 100 feet across the road to the picnic area and it dropped to 4 quarts on 50. Assuming it rained more it's safe to assume it was overcast more. Who's to say the lack of feed isn't a result of reduced sun light for which clam feed relies on?? If I had to hazard an "educated hypothesis" (like the foundation of most these studies) I would say this outfit is producing findings in an effort to show proof of theory to try and obtain a government grant or funding of some sort so they have abother million in tax revenue to blow. 10 years from now another group will spend millions in a study only to tell us the ocean is clearing.
It said color was from leaves and other forms of carbon.There was more fish and clams when the sewers went right into the ocean
Marie scientist are not just like diggers. For one they are not spending the duration of every tide on the flay day in and day out. They are there sporadically. They also do not depend upon the success of stock growth for their means of survival like a digger. Instead they depend on government funding. As such they will bend their narrative in order to keep getting paid. As far as records go taxation by default warrants I document landings for every tide. With the exception of October and November I dig doubles in perpetuity. What better record set could exist than that? Seems to me anyone very interested in drawing serious conclusions about flat health would be trying to obtain that info but nobody.is asking.You are seeing what you perceive as slower growing clams bevause you are only seeing the smaller run. July-March the run size everywhere is predominantly a 2 1/2" and under run located in the high flat and up into the shoreline areas where growth isn't as good. April-July the larger run blows out painting a entirely different story. Walk around the Jordan river in the right spots today and you will find the meatiest and fastest growing clams in the state. For years Milbridge and other towns complained about how good the claiming was in Harrington and how lucky we were. Now Milbridge has some guys digging that know how to move around with tide calander, dig the outlet limits of large flats, don't spend all their time in spots that are 2 feet from the truck or so hard you can walk around in knee highs. Now they realize its just as good there as anywhere else. It's just a matter of someone who knows what their doing landing on them. That's why two people in the same town can have completely different success rates. Clams being at their smallest body mass after spawning isn't a revelation. Of course they are they just blew a pile of spat out of themselves. That spawning has nothing to do with their feeding habits up until that point as you suggested.You also suggest clams are feeding constantly in response to my statement that clams would be feeding more if they aren't finding enough feed. Clams dont even come close to feeding continually. If they did every time you walked onto a mud flat EVERY clam on that flat would be blown out and you'd be blown away by just how much volume is there. You'd also be seeing the larger run you think your area is lacking. You aren't seeing them though because they feed infrequently compared to a smaller guy and when they aren't feeding you have no way of knowing they are there to survey. They go so deep you cant turn them over. As I mentioned before a sand worm hoe won't even touch them. Nows the time to survey them if your town wants to do it. You have a short window when they are exposing themselves and then you can kiss them goodbye for a year. I'd suggest mirroring the system we use here. We even go get good weight in the dead of winter when they are supposedly dormant and we have about 5 times as many diggers in a smaller area. So obviously the 6 months in one half and 6 months in the other system is still.working 40 years later. I'd be happy to help in any way and get you a copy of our ordinance. You failed to address Maine Shells yield data versus my point. I'm wondering how you'll refute my obvious logic on that one and again why give them away to them for the *expletive* price they are paying. You're just as close to Trenton Bridge and RDR as you are Maine Shell and I know you dig a nice run. Granted it sucks waiting in line but its like adding half a tide to a check. They only way to drive them up with the competition is taking away what few they are still getting. Two of their shops down here just got in a mess last week. Some of the stuff in the cooler was OVER 50% small. The best they found was 12%. They are trucking loads of garbage out of here to keep going along with the gallons they get from Sandy Cove Shellfish. They are just cutting everyone's throat including their own by buying that stuff before it's had a chance to grow.