Soft-Shell Clams

During 2021, Downeast Institute and partners continued our work testing the effects of sediment buffering (adding recycled crushed shells to mudflats) vs predator protection on commercial [...]

Downeast Institute has established a soft-shell Clam Recruitment Monitoring Network that spans the entire coast of Maine.

  In May of 2019, DEI scientists deployed studies across the Maine coast to determine if the traditional practice of brushing works to increase soft-shell clam populations, the first time [...]

Summary In 2018, DEI conducted a comparative field experiment at two coves, one in Cutler and one in Machiasport, to investigate how soft-shell clams react to acidic seawater and sediments, and [...]

DEI studied soft-shell clam recruitment in the St. George River and the Weskeag River in 2017, and the upper St. George River in 2018.

Discover the efficacy of using predator-deterrent netting to protect wild soft-shell clam recruits at sites across the entire Maine coast.

DEI examined the interactive effects of tidal height and predator exclusion on the survival and growth of wild and cultured soft-shell clams.