They Are Eating Our Clams Here

[tizeye]

There are a couple of bay's not far from here that I used to take my girls to when they were younger....they are both on a tidal inlets, one is called Hooper’s inlet, the other is Blueskin Bay they are on the West coast of NZ facing the Pacific Ocean next stop South America......anyway when the tide goes out and the mud flats are exposed you can walk out and dig up clams that are only half an inch or so below the surface. They are not hard to find they are literally everywhere..I was told once that for every square metre of mud there were approx 70-80kgs of clams, and that there was up to 15000 tons of clams there at any given time. An interesting thing is that we don't called them clams here. When Captain Cook first landed here he mistakenly called them cockles, which are a relative of the clam but found in mainly in Europe. Anyway I'm getting a little off track here..so me and my girls would go down to the inlet on a nice day and get ourselves a few dozen clams..make a little fire and boil some water in a pot..steam the clams open and eat them on fresh bread with heaps of garlic butter..and the whole time we might be the only people there.

So I'm watching TV this morning and there is is documentry on about harvesting clams out of Hoopers inlet and that they have been exporting them around the World for years..they send hundreds of tons every year to the USA alone. And the funny thing is that if you were to visit these bays there are no signs that there is commercial activity going on..the methods they use are so simple and labour intensive that they have next to no impact on the environment..I've attached a few pictures of the inlet and of the converted shopping trolleys that they use to harvest the clams..

Next time you order clams they might have come from here

[Halgar]

I don't know where the clams come from, but I know where I got the crabs ...

[slotcarrod]

I don't know where the clams come from, but I know where I got the crabs ...

You been hanging around Reg again! You didn't learn the first time?

[Halgar]

You been hanging around Reg again! You didn't learn the first time?

Must be them undies he's sending around to everyone ...

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

I don't know where the clams come from, but I know where I got the crabs ...

I once came face to face with a bearded clam! Indigenous to large dance floors with shiny poles!

[slotcarrod]

You been hanging around Reg again! You didn't learn the first time?

Must be them undies he's sending around to everyone ...

You shouldn't be trying them on Halgar!

[slotcarrod]

I don't know where the clams come from, but I know where I got the crabs ...

I once came face to face with a bearded clam! Indigenous to large dance floors with shiny poles!

Wait a second.... Once? I highly doubt it!

I like clams also!

[tizeye]

I'm over the bearded clams myself I prefer the far more exotic species "Clamis Baldis" you gentleman may be aware of the variety..

[Halgar]

I once came face to face with a bearded clam! Indigenous to large dance floors with shiny poles!

Bearded clams are fine if that's all you can get, though "Clamis Baldis", as tizeye said, are a divine delicacy that you'll lap up and be begging for more.

You shouldn't be trying them on Halgar!

I was trying to give them something a little more special than just a signature, is that wrong?

[treehugger]

i was a crab fisherman for 6 years about 20 years ago and at the time i was seeing a chemist that worked for the water authority well with out sounding over dramatic she did a thesis on endemic heavy metal pollution in shell fish clams came top of the list of don't eats ,well all shell fish were on the list but clams were the worst well to cut a long story short because the water company sponsored her study s when she finished they forced her to sign a bunch of keep quiet forms

[tizeye]

Yep that may well be true if there is pollution ..here there is not..but just in case there is a monitor in the water of each of these bays that alerts them if there was a problem..they would then stop harvesting for 4 tides, which apparently is all it takes to dilute or disperse any pollutants..

[Halgar]

i was a crab fisherman for 6 years about 20 years ago and at the time i was seeing a chemist that worked for the water authority well with out sounding over dramatic she did a thesis on endemic heavy metal pollution in shell fish clams came top of the list of don't eats ,well all shell fish were on the list but clams were the worst well to cut a long story short because the water company sponsored her study s when she finished they forced her to sign a bunch of keep quiet forms

You're absolutely right! If there's chowder in your clams, you shouldn't be eating them!

On a serious note, yes, shell fish in general is high in heavy metals and pollutants, as are most sea dwelling creatures that we find delicious. Mercury is a major problem and that originates from various sources from gold mining (past and present ), to cinnabar and coal production and use. Did you know that those nice little "green", energy saving, fluorescent light bulbs your utility has been shoving down your throat are laden with mercury? Did you also know that those "black light" headlamps that have become all the rage are also full of mercury?

Now, getting back to those clams ...

[Halgar]

Yep that may well be true if there is pollution ..here there is not..but just in case there is a monitor in the water of each of these bays that alerts them if there was a problem..they would then stop harvesting for 4 tides, which apparently is all it takes to dilute or disperse any pollutants..

Doesn't it take at least a week for the tide to subside ...

[treehugger]

yes but the pollution builds up over the life of the fish and the pollution is in parts per million but as the fish filters the water .... um going to shut up now all i know is she urged me to quit eating fish and i guess its no different from the growth hormones in beef .

[Lowgear]

Oh the sexual innuendo in this thread is priceless.


Jam out with your clam out!