Razor clams are the recluses of shellfish, but that may change soon. They are delicious; their meat is described as sweet, their texture is firm, and they present very well on a plate. And like all clams, they are versatile in that they can be eaten both cooked and raw, enhancing a wide range of cooking styles from Asian to Italian. Still, try to find them, not just in a market or a local restaurant, but try to find them in the sand. They are the most mobile of shellfish, with not only incredible digging abilities, but they can swim, too. A large bed of razor clams may be present on a beach one year, and the next year the beach could be completely devoid of them, the clams having packed up their tent and moved on. It’s one of the reason they aren’t farmed. You’ve heard the expression, herding cats?—The idiom that means you’re trying to control something that is inherently uncontrollable? You could say that about farm-raising razor clams. You actually have to admire the spirited little bivalves.
Those are just some of the reasons the demand for razor clams hasn’t taken off, said Chris Sherman, president of Island Creek Oysters, who also runs the non-profit Island Creek Oysters Foundation and serves as president of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association. “The market is dependent on the big tides,” he says. “You have stretches of time when they’re not available, and all of sudden they are available, so you have a large amount of clams harvested in a short time and the market is small, and can’t absorb all the clams.”
The best thing that could happen to razor clams, Sherman said, is what happened to oysters: More oysters. Having a consistent supply and presence on menus are the ways to build a market for them.
But it’s low tide on the new moon at Crosby Landing Beach, in Brewster. The water in the bay is out—way out, on a negative tide. This is the optimum time to harvest razor clams, when the beach is most uncovered. For all the world, it looks as if 17-year-old Kieran Norton and his 14-year-old sister, Elizabeth, are playing an aquatic version of the favorite carnival game, Whack-a-Mole. Kieran squirts a saltwater solution into a hole shaped like a keyhole, and up pops a razor clam. Elizabeth, following, snatches the clam before it can retreat back in its hole. This is how you harvest razor clams on Cape Cod.
The senior at Nauset Regional High School, who also tends 50 lobster traps with friends, has taken advantage of a pilot program in Brewster to get his commercial license to harvest razor clams. Elizabeth works as his apprentice. “I have a student razor clamming license,” she explains, because she’s just old enough to work legally in Brewster. She likes being out with her brother, and “…it’s not something an average 14-year-old girl would be doing at 5:00 a.m.” she says.
Both Nortons are Brewster-born and raised, and have turned to the age-old tradition on the Cape of harvesting from the sea when you’re young and looking for ways to earn some money and don’t want to deal with the tourists. “It’s not a conventional way to grow up,” said the elder Norton. “I know people who want to get off Cape Cod when they graduate high school, but our family takes advantage of living on the Cape.”
Kieran was attracted to razor clamming because of the abundance razor clams in Brewster, and because harvesting them has an easy entry. “It’s not very labor-intensive,” he says. “There is a learning curve; you have to learn what holes to spray.” You basically need a sprayer filled with super saturated saltwater, about two pounds of salt to two gallons of water, to squirt into a razor clam hole and force the clam out. “Harvesting is dependent on the tide, “ he explains, noting that tides permit seven to 10 days at the most per month to harvest. His best day’s catch was 110 pounds, and with luck he’s brought in as much as 450 pounds in a week.
Kieran, while acknowledging that razor clams for the longest time were the least desirable of shellfish, doesn’t quite understand why. “I’ve eaten them raw, steamed, in chowder, and Asian-style with soy sauce and herbs,” he said, adding that harvesters would like to see a local demand.
Those are just some of the reasons the demand for razor clams hasn’t taken off, said Chris Sherman, president of Island Creek Oysters, who also runs the non-profit Island Creek Oysters Foundation and serves as president of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association. “The market is dependent on the big tides,” he says. “You have stretches of time when they’re not available, and all of sudden they are available, so you have a large amount of clams harvested in a short time and the market is small, and can’t absorb all the clams.”
The best thing that could happen to razor clams, Sherman said, is what happened to oysters: More oysters. Having a consistent supply and presence on menus are the ways to build a market for them.
But it’s low tide on the new moon at Crosby Landing Beach, in Brewster. The water in the bay is out—way out, on a negative tide. This is the optimum time to harvest razor clams, when the beach is most uncovered. For all the world, it looks as if 17-year-old Kieran Norton and his 14-year-old sister, Elizabeth, are playing an aquatic version of the favorite carnival game, Whack-a-Mole. Kieran squirts a saltwater solution into a hole shaped like a keyhole, and up pops a razor clam. Elizabeth, following, snatches the clam before it can retreat back in its hole. This is how you harvest razor clams on Cape Cod.
The senior at Nauset Regional High School, who also tends 50 lobster traps with friends, has taken advantage of a pilot program in Brewster to get his commercial license to harvest razor clams. Elizabeth works as his apprentice. “I have a student razor clamming license,” she explains, because she’s just old enough to work legally in Brewster. She likes being out with her brother, and “…it’s not something an average 14-year-old girl would be doing at 5:00 a.m.” she says.
Both Nortons are Brewster-born and raised, and have turned to the age-old tradition on the Cape of harvesting from the sea when you’re young and looking for ways to earn some money and don’t want to deal with the tourists. “It’s not a conventional way to grow up,” said the elder Norton. “I know people who want to get off Cape Cod when they graduate high school, but our family takes advantage of living on the Cape.”
Kieran was attracted to razor clamming because of the abundance razor clams in Brewster, and because harvesting them has an easy entry. “It’s not very labor-intensive,” he says. “There is a learning curve; you have to learn what holes to spray.” You basically need a sprayer filled with super saturated saltwater, about two pounds of salt to two gallons of water, to squirt into a razor clam hole and force the clam out. “Harvesting is dependent on the tide, “ he explains, noting that tides permit seven to 10 days at the most per month to harvest. His best day’s catch was 110 pounds, and with luck he’s brought in as much as 450 pounds in a week.
Kieran, while acknowledging that razor clams for the longest time were the least desirable of shellfish, doesn’t quite understand why. “I’ve eaten them raw, steamed, in chowder, and Asian-style with soy sauce and herbs,” he said, adding that harvesters would like to see a local demand.