Clam digging is a common means of harvesting
clamsCLaMS is a modular chemistry transport model system developed at Research Centre Jülich, Germany. CLaMS was first described by McKenna et al. and was expanded into three dimensions by Konopka et al....
from below the surface of the tidal mud flats where they live. It is done both
recreationRecreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner...
ally (for enjoyment or as a source of food) and
commerciallyCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
(as a source of income). Commercial digging is colloquially 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
shovela tool used for hitting peopleA shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening....
.
Commercial clamming for the larger surf and Quahog clams (soup clams) is primarily done offshore, via mechanical dredging.
Clam digging is a common means of harvesting
clamsCLaMS is a modular chemistry transport model system developed at Research Centre Jülich, Germany. CLaMS was first described by McKenna et al. and was expanded into three dimensions by Konopka et al....
from below the surface of the tidal mud flats where they live. It is done both
recreationRecreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one's body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner...
ally (for enjoyment or as a source of food) and
commerciallyCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
(as a source of income). Commercial digging is colloquially 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
shovela tool used for hitting peopleA shovel is a tool for lifting and moving loose material such as coal, gravel, snow, soil, or sand and is an extremely common tool which is used extensively in agriculture, construction and gardening....
.
Commercial clamming for the larger surf and Quahog clams (soup clams) is primarily done offshore, via mechanical dredging. To harvest cultivated clam beds,
aquaculturalistsAquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms such as finfish, molluscs, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Also known as aquafarming, aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the...
often use a much smaller version (hand pulled) of 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.
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In the
Minas BasinThe Minas Basin is an inlet of the Bay of Fundy and a sub-basin of the Fundy Basin located in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is known for its extremely high tides.- Geography :- Boundary :...
area of
Nova ScotiaNova Scotia is a Canadian province located on Canada's southeastern coast. It is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. Its capital, Halifax, is a major economic centre of the region. Nova Scotia is the second-smallest province in Canada with an area of...
digging for
soft-shelled clamsSoft-shell clams, scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "longnecks", "piss clams" or "Ipswich clams", are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae....
is usually done with a
clam hack, a spading fork 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 soil to expose the clams. Those clams legally long enough (44 mm in Nova Scotia) are then taken by hand and put into a
peckA peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 2 gallons, 8 dry quarts, or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....
-size (9 litre) bucket used for measuring the volume of clams collected.
Clam digging in Maine is done using a "clam hoe" (a pitchfork with the handle cut off about 18" from the tines then bent about 70 degrees) and a "roller" (a half? bushel basket built using wood lathes or wire mesh) and hip waders (boot that extend up to the top of the legs).
Another popular method for bay clamming is the use of specialized
tongsTongs are gripping and lifting tools, of which there are many forms adapted to their specific use. Some are merely large pincers or nippers, but the greatest number fall into three classes:...
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.
In the United States, "clam digger" is one of several possible names for shorter pants or
three quarter pantsThree quarter pants, pedal pushers, shants, shpants, clam diggers, flood pants, jams, or highwaters are commonly used expressions to mean pants that are longer than shorts but are not as long as pants. They typically come down to between knee and ankle length...
.