By Emily Manley

Love is in the air on Long Island. Actually…make that the water. A Nature Conservancy survey of the Great South Bay this summer revealed the presence of more than 250 million juvenile clams, believed to be the offspring of three million Conservancy-stocked adult clams. 

The discovery represents a whopping 4000 percent increase in the central bay’s clam population since 2006. Could it be that the waters of Long Island are starting to experience a bivalve baby boom?

The Past is Prologue

For many decades, Long Island was synonymous with a thriving shellfish industry and its oceans and bays teemed with hard clams, oysters and scallops. The harvest was often legendary: as recently as the 1970s, the Great South Bay produced more than 50 percent of the entire nation’s harvested clams. 

But a triple-shot of pollution, overharvesting and habitat destruction eventually led to the decimation of Long Island’s shellfish population. As numbers dwindled, so did the commercial harvest (estimated to be down by more than 99 percent) and the water quality. Once able to filter 40% of the water in the Great South Bay every single day, now there are only enough clams remaining to filter about 1% of the water daily.

By 2004, scientists believed that the clam population numbers were so low they could no longer reproduce successfully.

Change is Coming

Unwilling to face a future without clams, The Nature Conservancy on Long Island began a regional partnership designed to make the Great South Bay ‘great’ once again. 

Over the past four years, more than three million adult clams have been returned to the bay, using a network of more than 50 sites where they can grow and reproduce without disturbance. Most of those sites are located within the Conservancy-owned, 13,000-acre Bluepoints Bottomland in the central Great South Bay. In addition, the Conservancy has been working across Long Island to protect and improve water quality and eelgrass habitat in local bays, two of the most important factors in clam survival.

By summer 2008, the moment of truth had arrived. Teams of scientists were sent out into the bay, armed with SCUBA gear and heavy equipment to estimate the juvenile clam population. What they found practically knocked their flippers off.

“Our survey of the bay bottom revealed over 250 million juvenile clams,” says Carl LoBue, senior marine scientist for The Nature Conservancy on Long Island. “That represents a 4000 percent increase in the central bay’s clam population since 2006 and is a very positive sign that we are on track towards meeting our restoration objectives.”

“We couldn’t be more excited to see all those baby clams this season,” says Nancy Kelley, executive director of The Nature Conservancy on Long Island. “This project has involved a long list of partners on the Bluepoints Bottomlands Council, and we’ll be watching closely to see if these new clams survive and reproduce.”

What Lies Ahead

While these initial findings are encouraging news, Conservancy scientists insist that we’re not ready to declare success yet. “We have to remain vigilant in our monitoring and in our efforts to keep the bay healthy. These baby clams still need to survive into adulthood and ultimately spawn more offspring,” says LoBue. “Recurring brown tide and natural predators are a continued threat. We must keep working with our partners to ensure the continued success of this exciting restoration project.” 

The Nature Conservancy will continue to work with partners on the Bluepoints Bottomlands Council on restoration activities, with the goal of eventually letting nature takes over as the clam population becomes self-sustaining.

“The Great South Bay is an important part of Long Island’s past and present,” says Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy. “We owe it to ourselves and our children to make sure it’s there for future generations, too.” Suffolk County recently contributed $1,000,000 towards the effort to restore hard clams to the Great South Bay.

The Nature Conservancy is thankful to its generous supporters from Suffolk County, New York state, NOAA Restoration Center, Brookhaven, Islip and Babylon Townships, Knapp/Swezey Foundation, Lowe's Companies, Inc., National Grid Foundation, Pall Corporation, Morris and Alma Schapiro Fund, the Joseph and Sylvia Slifka Foundation and the Wildlife Forever Fund.

Emily Manley is a marketing specialist for The Nature Conservancy in New York.

Get Involved

Join the Conservancy's online community and you can explore new places, receive email you want and build your own personalized nature page!

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © TNC (counting clams); Photo © TNC (juvenile clams); Photo © TNC (juvenile clams).