Anchorage Daily News

KETCHIKAN -- State managers have set a harvest quota of more than 868,000 pounds for geoduck clams in Southeast Alaska, the largest guideline harvest level ever.

The market for the large clams appears stable if not actually better than last season, said Phil Doherty, executive director of the Southeast Alaska Regional Dive Fisheries Association, which represents commercial harvest divers.

Scott Walker, the Ketchikan-area commercial fisheries management biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, said the market also appears fairly strong.

"I feel like it's going to be a pretty successful fishery," he said.

The overall commercial harvest quota has increased steadily since the 2001-02 season when the guideline harvest level stood at about 285,000 pounds.

Geoducks are long-lived clams that normally weigh between 1 and 3 pounds. The clams burrow deep into sand, gravel and mud, reaching back up to the sea floor with long necks called siphons that typically can stretch 18 inches and often much longer.

Commercial harvest divers use a water jet to loosen the seafloor material around the siphon in order to remove the clam.

Geoduck meat from the siphon is popular in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and especially China.

Most of the commercial geoduck harvest in Alaska occurs off the west coast of Prince of Wales Island and south of Ketchikan, with a smaller harvest near Sitka.

About 60 commercial harvest divers were expected to participate in the geoduck season that began early this month.

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