September 3, 2026
PIE researchers David Kimbro and Brian Beal were interviewed recently on GBH News about soft-shell clam recruitment research at PIE LTER! This research project is a collaborative effort with local shellfishers that was funded in part by APEAL.
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 in45 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.
Continue reading on WGBH.org.