File:Coast watch (1979) (20474302729).jpg

Title: Coast watch
Identifier: coastwatch00uncs_16 (find matches)
Year: 1979 (1970s)
Authors: UNC Sea Grant College Program
Subjects: Marine resources; Oceanography; Coastal zone management; Coastal ecology
Publisher: (Raleigh, N. C. : UNC Sea Grant College Program)
Contributing Library: State Library of North Carolina
Digitizing Sponsor: North Carolina Digital Heritage Center

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Nets pulled behind kicking boats harvest clams kicked up by propeller wash. "Clam kicking was a boon for this area about 20 years ago," says Austin. "A lot of homes were built here in eastern Carteret County with clam money." DMF statistics support his observation. Statewide, harvests in pounds of hard clams more than doubled between 1976 and 1977 — from about 306,000 to almost 740,000 pounds. By 1980, harvests had risen to over 1.5 million pounds. The dollar value increased from about $258,000 in 1976 to more than $5.5 million in 1980. And Austin suggests that the numbers may actually have been higher because the more accurate trip-ticket method of recording harvests was not started until about 10 years ago. But the success of clam kicking was not without a down side. State harvests of hard clams began dropping in the early 1990s to just under 620,000 pounds in 2002, according to DMF figures. "One problem is that it is so efficient that, if not carefully managed, it's easy to deplete the resource," says Austin, who has a degree in biology and has taught environmental science at the high school level. He also is on the board of directors for Crossroads, an environmental advocacy group in Carteret County. Austin says he kicked clams until about five years ago when the area he was working in Core Sound became too depleted to be worthwhile. "There are some who like to talk about natural cycles" to explain the decreased clam harvests, Austin explains. But he contends the "very efficient" method of clam kicking is the more likely explanation. The new rotation plan for alternating clam kicking between northern C o n t i n u e d COASTWATCH 17

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