In Bar Harbor, the shellfish committee along with collaborators from College of the Atlantic, Acadia Aqua Farms, Bar Harbor Oyster, Sweet Pea Farm, Maine Coast Heritage Trust and Maine Sea Grant are working to increase clam densities in Bar Harbor’s clam flats. Over the last few years, Bar Harbor has seen a decline in wild clam populations and an increase in green crab predation. To combat this, the group is using two techniques, first transplanting quahogs which are less susceptible to green crab predation, and second, putting up nets to restrict predator access.
To start, the group will be using recruitment boxes to determine possible clam densities, and collect spat. Spat will then be grown out in lantern nets at multiple aquaculture sites. Finally, after the grow out period, certain mudflats will be reseeded, with a proportion protected from predation.
Contact
Scott Swann- Project Coordinator
sswann@coa.edu
The Mudflat 