Nuns clamming - Toni Frissell LC-F9-04-5709-012-17

Clam digging is a North American term for a common way to harvest

clams Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

(edible

infaunal Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zool ...

bivalve Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

mollusk Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is e ...

s) from below the surface of the tidal sand flats or

mud flats Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

where they live. It is done both

recreation Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasur ...

ally (for enjoyment or as a source of food) and

commercially Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

(as a source of income). Commercial digging in the U.S. and Canada is

colloquial Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conver ...

ly referred to as ''clamming'', and is done by a ''clammer''. Amateur clam digging is often done using a straight long-handled spading fork, or a spading

shovel A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made of ...

. Commercial clamming for

quahog The hard clam (''Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince ...

clams, and the larger surf clams (soup clams) is primarily done offshore, via mechanical dredging. To harvest cultivated clam beds, aquaculturalists often use a much smaller version (hand pulled) from the offshore dredge. Another form of commercial clamming is done from a flat-decked boat using a clamrake with a telescopic handle. The head of these rakes have long tines attached to a "basket-like" cage in which the clams are collected. In the

Minas Basin , image = Lookout On Way to Cape Split - 25006718579.jpg , alt = , caption = Looking east across the Southern Bight of Minas Basin from The Lookoff , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , ca ...

area of

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, digging for soft-shelled clams is usually done with a ''clam hack'', a

spading fork A garden fork, spading fork, or digging fork is a gardening implement, with a handle and a square-shouldered head featuring several (usually four) short, sturdy tines. It is used for loosening, lifting and turning over soil in gardening and fa ...

with its short handle bent perpendicularly away from the fork's head. A digger typically uses the hack by grasping the spine of the prongs in one hand and the handle of the fork in the other to push the hack down into the mud, clay, or sand and then pull it up and towards him/herself. This digging action opens up the substrate to expose the clams. Those clams legally long enough ( in Nova Scotia) are then taken by hand and put into a

peck A peck is an imperial and United States customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 dry gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. An imperial peck is equivalent to 9.09 liters and a US customary peck is equivalent to 8.81 liters. Two pecks mak ...

-size (9 litre) bucket that is used to measure the volume of clams collected. Clam digging on the New England coast is done using a "clam hoe" (a pitchfork with the handle cut off about from the tines then bent about 70 degrees) and a "hod" or "roller" (a half

bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel is equal to 2 kennings (obsolete), 4 pecks, or 8 dry gallons, and was used mostly for agricult ...

basket built using wood lathes or wire mesh) and hip waders (boot that extend up to the top of the legs). The use of other tools is prohibited in some areas. Another popular method for bay clamming is the use of specialized

tongs Tongs are a type of tool used to grip and lift objects instead of holding them directly with hands. There are many forms of tongs adapted to their specific use. The first pair of tongs belongs to the Egyptians. Tongs likely started off as b ...

from a boat. Operators use the long tongs to probe the sand for clams. Clam tongs appear very much like two clamrakes with teeth hinged like scissors. Digging for

razor clams A razor is a bladed tool primarily used in the removal of body hair through the act of shaving. Kinds of razors include straight razors, safety razors, disposable razors, and electric razors. While the razor has been in existence since before ...

using a clam shovel or tube is a family and recreational activity in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clam Digging Fishing industry Clams Recreational fishing

See also

References

External links