Loading...
January 24, 1994 - Fresh Seafood from Nature's Freezer% 2—" • :The Suffolk Tires • J.jnlaa, y> 20,1204 Fresh Seafood from Nature's Freezer By Paul Stoutenburgh It was a real winter's day. The wind had been blowing for two days out of the northwest and had blown most of the water out of the creeks. Whenever this rare occurrence takes place, it's time to drop everything, get out the old hip boots and go soft clamming. The reason being the big ones are usually Focus on dust below the normal low -water line where they Nature are protected in regular tides, but now their area would be exposed. There's a special art in soft clamming that requires just the right amount of digging so you don't break the soft ,shells of the clam. It all starts with digging a starter hole that is deep enough to create a caving -in effect. As the side caves in the loose, wet sand is bailed out so that the caving in will continue. If there are clams about and the hole you dug is deep enough, sooner or later you'll see clams falling with the sand from the sides of the hole. You'll even see the passageway where their long neck traveled to the surface for food. This has to be kept open or the clams will die. This is one of the major reasons for soft clam depletion, for it is when sediment chokes out the clams that they can no longer live. The place I go must be an ancient habitat for these palate delights for the clams are up to five inches in length and must have been there for years and years. Most are at least 10 to 12 inches deep which tells me they have been there for a long time, since soft clams don't move about to any degree. What I do is look for their squirt holes in the sand. By the way, they are often called "piss clams" because they squirt water Automatic Scheduling FUEL OIL C.O.D. PRICING PREMIUM DIESEL FUEL KEROSENE 129SM51461 .1 Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh SOFT CLAM —These granddaddy steamers are hard to come by, but if you know their secret spots they can still be found. This one measures five inches. out of their necks up these holes when disturbed. Actually, the neck withdraws for protection and the water in it is squirted out. Polluted Clams Made Good All mollusks filter their food out of the water and for this reason they are very susceptible to pollution. It is also one reason some hard clams are purged or cleansed in clean water after being harvested from polluted waters. It seems . the toxins can be cleansed out of the clams if they are left in clean water for a certain amount of time. It is also another reason why creeks and bays are closed after rains because the biggest polluter is road runoff and, of course, this most often occurs after heavy rains. I put a shovel and clam basket in the back of the pickup and was off. Throw- ing in a pair of rubber gloves was a last - minute thought that really paid off, for the water now is freezing cold and with any amount of wind on your wet hands it becomes unbearable. I went off to my secret spot where I've always gotten huge clams when the water was way out. I'd have to walk across a muddy marsh and then along an exposed, sandy hot- tom before I reached the spot. The cold north wind was biting but the sun added enough cheer to make the walk exhilarating. The time was late afternoon and I'd have to work fast for the sun was already low on the horizon. Yellow- tinged clouds scurried fast on their way south and I found myself alone in the creek. Most people would never think this much of an adventure, but I believe that's what life is made up of. My adventures are right here on our own East End. The marsh had lost its rich green and was a dull yellow -brown now. Later the ice and snow of winter will break it down so that it will decay and help create the nutrient bank that will nourish our creeks and bays that depend on them for their bounty. My boot sank halfway up to my knees as I tried to cross the marsh in one place and I had to use my shovel like a ski pole to help me along. Once on the marsh edge masses of ribbed mussels made walking much easier. Then down on the sandy, exposed bottom and I was there. I scoured the area for the telltale signs of soft clams. * w &9w * wwtm nwwlm 82 Years Ago Jan. 20, 1912 We All Agree: That East End Must Have Better Steamboat Service — At the annual meeting of the Green - port Board of Trade in Village Hall Monday night the board condemned the action of the Montauk Steamboat Co. in fur- nishing such miserable steamboat service between Sag Har- bor, Shelter.Island, Greenport and New London. It was stated at the meeting how the public at large is afraid of the steamer Manhanset, which many years ago was condemned but which, through some inside influence, has been permitted to stay on the route. Many people refuse to go on board the boat, while practically everybody that does is afraid of her. The route is a paying one and the business could be greatly increased if a safe boat were put on it. 50 Years Ago Jan. 21, 1944 Killer Whale on Exhibit in Greenport: It is conservatively estimated that about 2,000 persons visited the Tuthill Socony dock over the weekend to see the 25- foot killer whale which is on exhibition there. The whale, which was stranded in Orient Harbor, was brought to Greenport by Captain Fiedler of the beam trawler Nora last Thursday. On Saturday afternoon the steam lighter owned Mud snails with their erratic trails were everywhere. They are the vacuum cleaners of the bottom, an important part of keeping our creeks and bays clean. Once in a while I'd see a large hole too big for a soft clam. It would be the hole of a razor clam. These long - shelled clams are very movable in the sense that they can pull themselves down almost as fast as you can dig. With a shovel you can get down under them if you are quick to dig them out. I'd collect a few for eating later. Then I saw the smaller hole that told me soft clams were below. I'd make sure I dug deep enough and off to the side and soon with those rubber gloves I'd be able to pick out the big soft clams I knew were there. The water ran out of my eyes as the wind tore at my face and clothing but this was my element. Down on my hands and knees I was getting more excited as I pulled those old granddad- dies from their hiding places. A small flock of bufflehead ducks flew by, their heads into the wind like a weathervane. My clam basket was a wire one and so when I'd get 10 or 15 clams I'd put them in the basket and then put the basket out in the water so that the clams could cleanse themselves of any sand. Slowly my basket started to fill. The sun had now disappeared and the harsh, raw day relentlessly renewed its effort to banish me from the creek. I was satisfied with the amount I'd gotten and started back to the pickup, content with a day on the marsh. Women's Resources SOUTHOLD —The North Fork Women's Resource Center will host a get- acquainted potluck dinner on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 6 p.m. Then, be- ginning in April, dinners will be held on the first Thursday of the month at the Colonial Corners office. In addition, support groups for women in transition and separated or divorcing women will begin meeting on Monday, Feb. 7. Six sessions will be held. For more information, call 765 -4960. by marine contractor Ralph Preston was used to lift the whale, which weighed over four tons, out of the water where it was tied alongside the Nora. The derrick lifted the whale out of the water and placed it on the dock at the Socony station. This is the first time in the memory of the oldest residents of this section of the island that a killer whale has visited these waters. The action on the Village Board of Trustees in having the huge whale placed on exhibition was a good advertising stunt for Greenport. 25 Years Ago Jan. 24, 1969 RFK Bust Unveiled: A bronze memorial bust of Senator Robert F. Kennedy was unveiled last week in the Justice Department courtyard in Washington, D.C., in a simple ceremony attended by his surviving brother and his widow. The bust was created by Robert Berks of Orient, who has also done a bust of President John F. Kennedy. "Three days after Senator Kennedy was assassinated, Mrs. Kennedy asked me to create a bronze portrait of her husband," Berks said at his converted schoolhouse home and studio on Halyoke Avenue in Orient. "I asked her how she wanted her husband portrayed; she said, `with the look of eagles. "'