Razor clam

There is very little information available about razor clams in the UK. There is concern for the biomass and fishing pressure due to lack of data.The species’ caught as razor clams in the UK (Ensis siliqua and Ensis arcuatus, also known as Ensis magnus) are data limited due to the lack of data relating to biomass and fishing pressure.Razor clams are assessed as having low vulnerability to fishing pressure (10 out of 100). However, they have slow growth rates and their populations take a long time to recover. Intense harvesting has been shown to impact community structure, resulting in very slow rebuilding timeframes. Once fished, razor clam beds can be re-colonised, but only if there are sufficient clams in surrounding areas.No stock assessments are undertaken for razor clams and there are no reference points available to assess the stock status. Therefore, there is concern for biomass.The only information about fishing pressure is from reported landings data, total catch levels from hand and dive gathering are unknown. There are no reference points for fishing pressure. Therefore, there is concern for fishing in UK waters.There is limited information available about hand harvesting of razor clams around the Welsh coast. However, there have been concerns about overfishing and high exploitation levels on intertidal beds around Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr.

There are some management measures in place for specific areas for razor clams in Wales, but there are no country wide management measures and it is not possible to assess the effectiveness of the measures in place. Welsh fisheries are managed through the Government of Wales Act 2006. The Welsh Government are responsible for territorial seas (0 to 12nm), through the Welsh Zone (Boundaries and Transfer of Functions) Order 2010).Razor clams are managed using a minimum conservation reference size, which is 100mm for Ensis species. Razor clams are not managed using catch limits.Byelaw 12 in North Wales and byelaw 40 in South Wales restrict fishing for bivalve molluscan shellfish in the 0-6 nautical mile area to hand or hand held tool gathering or other gears (including dredges explicitly in North Wales). Provided that other gears meet the conditions of the appropriate committee.Concern has been raised about the lack of management measures to protect the stock, especially since there were reports of large gatherings of people harvesting the clams in a Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) on Llanfairfechan beach. To mitigate this, Byelaw 16 has been instated to (temporarily) prohibit removal, take or disturbance any razor clams for a bed or part of a bed of razor clams for the areas Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr. The closure first instated in 2017 was reissued for all of 2022. Prior to this notice, razor clams could be gathered for personal consumption from the area although the area was not classified as a shellfish harvesting area (food safety requirements) and therefore, legally, the shellfish cannot be sold into the supply chain.No information is available about other specific management measures across Wales and there are is no accessible information about stock assessments or fishing pressure available. More information about Welsh stocks are needed, especially given than razor clams have been identified as an opportunity to diversify welsh shellfish harvesting.

Shore based hand gathering of razor clams is a low impact fishing method as there is no bycatch and it is unlikely to cause habitat damage. In some areas with reported fisheries in Wales there are protections in place for wading birds that rely on shellfish for food.Hand gathering is used to harvest razor clams in Wales. Although hand gathering is low impact it has been shown to occur at high levels in some areas that are protected for wading birds, which rely on shellfish for food. Often large quantities of salt are used to force the buried clams to the surface, and the impacts of this on other species around the clam holes are not known. There are also concerns regarding the impact of the large removals of razor clams changing the density of sand. However, in the two area where harvesting levels were of concern Llanfairfechan and Penmaenmawr there is currently a full prohibition on harvesting razor clams. Although illegal fishing in the area has been reported in the past there is no available evidence of concern since 2017.In addition to hand gathering in Wales there may be some other razor clam harvests such as dredging and electrofishing including for research purposes. However, there is no information about whether these are currently being undertaken or at what scale and so they are not part of this rating.Evidence suggests that hand diving of razor clams is not commercially viable without the use of electrofishing gear to expose the shells for harvest by divers. Electrofishing is not permitted in Welsh waters, therefore, the provenance of any wild harvested razor clams sold commercially should be checked.