KENAI — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game plans to study razor clams on the west side of Cook Inlet as clam populations on east side beaches remain at historically low levels.
Researchers will survey nearly 7 miles of beaches for one week starting April 5 between Redoubt Point and the Crescent River, which drains into Cook Inlet from the mainland southwest of Kalgin Island, the Peninsula Clarion reported.
Fish and Game's study, which will be the first of its kind in western Cook Inlet, will collect data on clam size and age to compare with future surveys.
"Razor clam abundance and age composition in western Cook Inlet has never been estimated, so current harvest rate, life history parameters (recruitment, growth, age at maturity, natural mortality, etc.) and sustainable harvest rates are unknown," the agency's operational plan states.
Beaches on the west side of Cook Inlet have seen an increase in harvest activity in recent years after east side beaches closed to razor clam harvesting because of low numbers.
From 1996 to 2011, annual harvests in the area targeted for study averaged around 15,000 clams. The total harvest reached more than 75,000 by 2014, possibly due to the closures on the east side beaches and increased access provided by charter boat services to western beaches, according to the operational plan.
The reason for declining harvests on the east side still remains unclear, said Carol Kerkvliet, a sport fisheries biologist with Fish and Game in Homer. Biologists are finding high mortality coupled with low spawning success and poor settling success for juvenile clams.
"Then also the poor survival of the larger size clams suggests some sort of environmental impact, and it could be a combination of many things," Kerkvliet said.
The Alaska Board of Fisheries considered a proposal in March 2015 that would have imposed limits on clams on Polly Creek beach on the west side of Cook Inlet, but ultimately decided against taking any action it. The number of clams that can be taken for personal use and by sport fishermen in western Cook Inlet remains unrestricted.