Where have all the soft-shell clams gone? Scientists and shellfishers seek answers. | GBH News

Editor’s note: This article mentions research done by Marine Biological Laboratory scientists and their colleagues from the Plum Island Ecosystems Long Term Ecological Research project.

Just past sunrise on a warm August morning, Northeastern University marine science professor David Kimbro stood ankle-deep in the waters of Plum Island Sound.

He carried what resembled a stack of white pizza boxes — only they were made of PVC and had black mesh on top. Once the tide dropped, Kimbro and his team rushed to swap the boxes for others that had been sitting in the mud for a month.

In total, the scientists hauled in 45 mud-filled boxes that morning and motored them back to the research station nearby on Massachusetts’ North Shore. Inside, they hoped to find a bevy of soft-shell clams.

This scrappy, muddy work was part of a two-year collaborative effort by ecologists to understand the problems facing soft-shell clam diggers on Massachusetts’ North Shore.