PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Chad Coffin has lived through the coronavirus pandemic as much as he has in decades past: on the shores of Maine, looking for the mussels that lure tourists to New England seafood restaurants.
But he runs into a problem: few mussels.
“There just aren’t the mussels out there,” Coffin said. “I don’t want to be negative, I just try to be realistic.”
It is a known problem experienced by the New England clamdiggers. More New Englanders have dug in the mudflats in the past year, but the cockles are not cooperating.
The coronavirus pandemic has inspired more people in the northeastern states, especially Maine and Massachusetts, to dig for soft-shell clams, also called “steamers,” which have been used for generations to make chowder and baked clams. to make. The era of social distance during the coronavirus pandemic is conducive to the often lonely work, said Coffin, the president of the Maine Clammers Association, which represents commercial clammers.
But the U.S. catch of mussels has declined in recent years as the industry faces mussel-eating predators and warming waters, and 2020 and early 2021 have been particularly difficult, industry members said.
In Maine, the largest producer of shellfish, fishermen produced their lowest catch in over 90 years at just over 1.3 million pounds in 2020. National totals have not yet been compiled, but Maine’s catch typically exceeds the half of the total in the US. , and shipments in other complaining states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York have been on a downward trend in recent years.
The lack of mussels has contributed to higher prices for consumers, Coffin said. It has also raised concerns that future generations of mussels will be even fewer in number, he said.
“Some of the guys who are clamming are making good money right now, but they’re actually selling their futures,” Coffin said. “The resource is getting smaller.”
The clamming industry has faced more marine predators of mussels in recent years, such as green crabs and milky tapeworms. Scientists have said the predators are encouraged by the warming waters of key habitats such as the Gulf of Maine, one of the fastest warming bodies of water in the world.
The shortage of mussels coincided with a time of high demand for mussels, and this has led to price increases. Soft-shell mussels often sell for about $ 7 a pound at retail, which is about 40% more than usual and a surprisingly high number for spring, Coffin said. The demand for mussels is usually highest in the summer.
Shellfish was the second most valuable species in Maine last year, after lobsters, state records show. The mussels in the harbor were worth about $ 15.7 million, a competitive total at $ 2.39 per pound in recent years, the second highest in history.
Prices are rising due to factors such as interest in local foods during the pandemic and a limited supply of the mussels on the market, said Brian Beal, a professor of marine ecology at the University of Maine at Machias whose research focuses on shellfish. The price hike is good for the clams in the short term, but the long-term problems pose a major threat to fisheries, he said.
“Interestingly, there is still a demand for shellfish, and that demand is driving up that price, and that is pushing people to go and get shellfish,” Beal said. “We still have to look at the historical trends. One way of looking at it is that they were the lowest in a long time. “
The lack of mussels has been a problem for both commercial and recreational clammers. The predator crabs, which originated in Europe, are also a problem for hobby climbers on Cape Cod, said John Townes, president of the Barnstable Association for Recreational Shellfishing.
“They are a terribly invasive species,” he said. “They are big predators.”