Boats and Gear for Hard Clams Harvesting

The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) is a species of shellfish harvested in the waters of the Atlantic coast of the United States, and of Canada. It has been introduced on the Pacific coast of the United States and also in Europe. Hard clam farming has become a major industry in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States.

Time	Location	Boat	Boat Length*	Gear
1800s to early 1900s	Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket	Sailing sharpie	6-8	Short rake
1800s to mid-1900s	Massachusetts, Raritan Bay	Rowboat	3.7-4.25	Short rake, tongs, bull rakes
1800s to 1961	Raritan Bay	Catboat	5.5-8.5	Sail dredge
1800s to 1970s	Great South Bay	Sloop	11	Tongs
1880s to 1950s	Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket	Catboat	5.5-8.5	Basket and bull rakes
1875 to 1961	Raritan Bay	Sloop	10.7-12.2	Sail dredge
1900s	Great South Bay	Garvey	6	Tongs
Early 1900s to present	Chesapeake Bay	Working boat	12	Patent tongs
1900s	Raritan Bay, Barnegat Bay	Garvey	6	Bull rake
1946 to 1957	Connecticut	Full-sized oyster boat	15-20	Rocking chair dredge
1958 to present	Chesapeake Bay	Full-sized oyster boat	15-20	Hydraulic dredge
1970s to present	Narragansett Bay	Fibreglass boat	5.5	Bull rake
1970s to present	Prince Edward Island	Rowboat	3.7-4.25	picking
Notes *metres Sources Kraeuter, J.N and M. Castagna, eds. Biology of the Hard Clam. Amsterdam, etc.: Elsevier, 2001.