Lessons From 'The Last Clam': Casco Bay Shellfish 'Renaissance'

BRUNSWICK, Maine — Tim Johnson of Harpswell had been clamming for more than 30 years when, in 2014, he hung up his hoe.

Between predators such as the invasive green crab and other factors, the flats just weren’t profitable any more.

“We’d go out, and there’s nothing there,” Johnson of Brunswick said. “It’s kind of depressing to dig the last clam.”

In fact, the legal amount of softshell clams being harvested are down 70 percent since the green crab invasion of recent years, Brunswick Marine Resources Officer Dan Devereaux said — though he said the invasive crustaceans seem to have eased up a bit this year, perhaps because of a cold winter.

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