Winter storm decimates clams on the Kenai Peninsula

Six months have passed since a strong tidal surge generated by a storm pounded Kenai Peninsula beaches, turning them into a killing field for razor clams.
Tens of thousands of clams washed ashore on an eight-mile stretch of Ninilchik beach during the storm. Nicky Szarzi, the former area biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, estimated 2,700 washed up on just one 70-by-30-yard patch of beach -- and the clam devastation stretched for nearly a mile.
"A lot of big ones were lost," noted avid clammer Rob Moore, who kicked off his digging season with a trip to Ninilchik's uncrowded beaches on a sunny weekend in mid-April. "There were a lot of big dead ones out there.
"It was disheartening to see. All the shells I saw were big, palm and finger size, the large ones."
Even before the storm, the Peninsula clam population was dominated by a large number of small 2- and 3-year-old clams that in recent seasons frustrated clammers seeking larger, meatier bivalves at least 5 years old. The pipsqueaks are the result of a burst of newborn clams in 2008.
A series of big minus tides next week should lure crowds of diggers, but finding sizeable clams could be hard work. Look for larger shows on the beach, indicating a clam beneath.
"We found mainly a lot of small clams, and we had to work hard to get a good haul," said Moore, who eventually reached his 60-clam limit.
"Probably 90 percent of them were the smaller clams," he said.
Moore said he tried a new way of handling the clams. He brought a giant cooler and a battery-operated air pump similar to those used in aquariums. After adding several buckets of sea water, his clams stayed alive in the oxygenated water. He added some corn meal, which the clams digested, pushing out sand.
"When we got home they were happy and alive," Moore said, "and their necks weren't stretched out like they can be when they're looking for oxygen."
Homer Fish and Game biologist Michael Booz said Fish and Game plans to survey clams on area beaches through May 20 to gather data on the abundance of various age classes.
So how do biologists count a species that lives underground?
Using a pump, they blast water into a designated area, loosening the substrate. Then they count and measure the clams, extrapolating the number to the entire beach.
With clams numbering in the millions, you might think they're everywhere. They're not.
Alaska has half of the eight major concentrations of razor clams on the Pacific coast. Two of the four are on both sides of Cook Inlet, with the east side supporting Alaska's largest sport and personal use fishery. The 50-mile stretch between the Kasilof and Anchor rivers includes what's known as the northern beaches (Cohoe, Clam Gulch and Oil Pad Access) as well as the southern beaches (Ninilchik, Deep Creek, Happy Valley and Whiskey Gulch).
In clamming, there's no catch and release; clammers must keep any clams they dig up, no matter the size. The limit is 60 clams.
"Ages 5-7 is where people start getting excited about the clams," said Booz. "The potential for waste is pretty real. If we allowed people to release clams, people would release lots of broken clams. That's where we draw the line in the sand."
But the dominant class of clams this summer will be 3-year-olds. They're expected to average 100-120 millimeters.
Razor clams spawn in late July or August, and they're a prolific bunch. Females can produce up to 118 million eggs.
When last surveyed in 2008, just four miles of Clam Gulch beach contained 3.6 million clams, up a million from 2005.
Catching them often requires practice. Rookies must fight the temptation to dig right on top of the beach dimple. Instead, dig farther from the dimple, angle in under it, and then grab the clam trying to drive straight down into the beach to escape. A narrow, pointed clam shovel will help, but you can dig with almost anything.
Moore used a clam gun, a device that a number of clammers prefer.
"It's really for speed," he said. "Otherwise you're working, working, working."
And the payoff can be sweet. Moore's wife lightly cooked the catch, mixing the clams with oriental noodles, a scrumptious combination, he said.

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Clamming
Gear: Waterproof boots, clam shovel, bucket.
License: State sports fishing license required. Open only to residents.
Limit: 60 per day on eastside Cook Inlet beaches. On the inlet’s west side, there are no limits. The fine for over-limit is $100, plus $2 per clam.
Where: Most clammers work a 50-mile area between the Kasilof and Anchor rivers.
Keepers: You must keep and count all razor clams dug, regardless of size or shell damage.

Northern Peninsula clamming beaches: Cohoe, Clam Gulch at Mile 117.5 of the Sterling Highway is the most popular. Also: Oil Pad Access and Cohoe.
Southern Peninsula clamming beaches: Ninilchik, Deep Creek, Happy Valley and Whiskey Gulch.
How to dig: Avoid the temptation of digging down on top of the dimple in the sand. That often results in a smashed clam, which by law clammers must to keep and count as part of their limit. Instead, dig farther from the dimple, angle in under it, and then grab the clam trying to drive straight down into the beach to escape.
Good upcoming tides at Clam Gulch
Sunday: Minus 2.6 at 8:53 a.m.
Monday: Minus 4.2 at 9:40 a.m.
May 17: Minus 5.0 at 10:26 a.m.
May 18: Minus 5.1 at 11:12 a.m.
May 19: Minus 4.6 at 11:58 a.m.
May 20: Minus 3.4 at 12:44 p.m.
May 21: Minus 1.8 at 1:31 p.m.
Clam websites

Campgrounds: dnr.alaska.gov/parks/asp/access.htm#camp
Tides: piscatorialpursuits.com/clammingtides.htm Regulations, maps, diagrams: www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=PersonalUsebyAreaSouthcentralCookInletClams.main