How are soft-shell clams harvested?
They are dug from the intertidal flats of bays and estuaries at low tide in New England, using a short-handled fork to obtain clams living in burrows six to ten inches below the surface. In Chesapeake Bay, because the beds are mostly subtidal, a hydraulic dredge washes clams from the bottom and onto an endless belt that conveys the clams to the dredge boat.
