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 few appropriate management measures in place for hand gathered razor clam fisheries. There are concerns that clams are sold as purely hand gathered when they have been stunned using illegal electrofishing gear and then dive gathered. More transparency on the market is needed to improve management.There is a minimum landing size (MLS) of 100 mm applied to the Ensis species for all European stocks, but this is often lower than the size at which they mature. There is also no information about how the spatial extent, fishing intensity and total landings of hand gathering.It is currently difficult for consumers to identify whether clams are collected legally by hand or by electrofishing, which is illegal in all parts of the UK except some licenced vessels in Scotland. Electrofishing relies on divers to collect clams that are stunned by an electrified dredge gear and are often marketed as hand gathered. Hand gathering or diving of razor clams is not considered commercially viable due to low catch rates, and so it is unlikely that hand gathered clams will be on the market in any quantity. Further information about all landings reaching markets and clear and accurate labelling requirements about fishing methods would be needed to fully understand the razor clam fishery in the UK.There has been a very lucrative illegal market for razor clams in Scotland and more widely. It is not clear whether current management approaches are protecting the fishery from illegal activity. Some sellers provide clear information about how vessels are licenced but there are indications that illegal fishers transport electrofished catches to Scotland for sale.

Hand gathering of razor clams is a low impact fishing method as there is no bycatch and it is unlikely to cause habitat damage.Hand gathering of razor clams is permitted across the UK and is predominantly understood to be a recreational fishery. However, there is no information about the scale and extent of dive gathering of razor clams. Hand gathering occurs above the low tide line.Hand gathering of razor clams is a low impact fishing method as it directly targets individual shellfish so there is no bycatch. 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. Additionally, large scale removals may alter the density of the sand.If clams are harvested very intensively in any areas there may also be impacts on other species in the food chain. There is no consistent information about razor clam harvest impacts on the wider ecosystem, however, in Wales there are concerns that wading birds are affected by the reduction in prey.Evidence suggests that hand gathering 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 any UK waters apart from some licenced vessels in Scotland, therefore, the provenance of any wild harvested razor clams sold commercially should be checked.