Restaurants shell out more for clams, and some are taking them off the menu

[left-of-center2012]

Though a sign outside proclaims the spot is “famous for clams,” Flo’s Clam Shack in Rhode Island is taking a hiatus from hawking fried steamers. The restaurant has been shelling out the crispy, salty dish for decades. But market price for soft-shell clams is just too high right now, owner Komes Rozes said. Flo’s has two locations in Rhode Island and a more than 80-year legacy. The seasonal restaurant has been knocked down by hurricanes and rebuilt several times.

The price of the clams, often called steamers, is prone to fluctuation, but Rozes said this summer’s spike is the worst he has seen in 45 years in the industry. He said last week a gallon of clams would go for $225 – $75 more than the highest price he’ll pay.

Soft-shell clams are especially at risk when the climate changes rapidly, researchers say. The number of clams for harvest is also dwindling, Chad Coffin, president of the Maine Clammers Association, told the Associated Press in April. Hot summers have been killing soft-shell clams for decades.

Soft-shell clams take three to four years to grow to the market size of two inches, according to the Maine Clammers Association. Clamming is backbreaking work, the association said, as soft-shell clams burrow in intertidal areas and workers dig them up by hand with rakes and hoes. Maine, where Rozes gets most of his soft-shell clams, had its smallest harvest in more than 90 years last year, the Associated Press reported. A 2016 study found the state’s soft-shell clam yield had declined by 75 percent over the previous 40 years.

https://www.pressherald.com/2021/07/26/restaurants-are-shelling-out-more-for-clams-and-some-are-taking-them-off-the-menu/

[Marrah_Goodman]

1. you fry clams

You steam steamers... Small but important difference. Seeing any New England coastal town stop serving fried clams during tourist season is huge. That is a massive portion of their business.

[getagrip_already]

2. not true....

"Virtually every fried clam in America is either Mya arenaria, the steamer clam, or Mercenaria mercenaria, the quahog, cherrystone or littleneck clam; the names are size grades, not different species."

I was surprised also, but fried steamers are actually a thing. Who knew?

[Marrah_Goodman]

4. Most New England fried clams are littlenecks

Or at least they have been my whole life. They make better fried clams. I do know that some cheaper places will trim down the long necks of streamers and use those instead, but I think that's more of the chain type companies or places away from the seashore.

However Maybe I am wrong and things have changed. I spent my childhood digging clams...fond memories. Kids don't have to pay for a license...hehe.

[left-of-center2012]

5. ...

"steamed clams are usually made with small soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria) called steamers

Hard shell clams, sometimes known as quahogs, can also be steamed. They are categorized by size— the smaller ones are called littlenecks, medium-sized ones topnecks, the larger ones cherrystones, and the largest are simply called quahogs."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steamed_clams

[bluedevil4]

3. NO NO!

I'm heading to MAINE next week and I'm looking forward to fried whole belly clams and Steamers so say you are lying!!!!!!!

Did I mention lobster to!

sorry for all the !!! but I wait every year for this

[GPV]

6. Scallops are also going missing. Still, someone has to buy the stuff, so get it from

the shellfish wholesaler and cook them up yourself if no restaurants have them. I may have to do that. Yum, grilled scallops!

[bluedevil4]

8. too bad

they just taste so much better when someone else does it. You in Maine?

[GPV]

9. Yes. I live on the coast, and have for most of my life.

[GPV]

7. Used to be you could just look for little holes on the flats and start digging, and you'd turn up a

pile. I dunno what is going to happen to my state as we lose the fisheries at sea and maple trees and blueberries on land.

[Marrah_Goodman]

10. That's how I did it when I was little