Arctic Science Journeys
Radio Script
1997

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Diving for Geoducks
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STORY: They aren't gooey, and they aren't ducks, but they are called geoducks (GOOEY-DUCKS). The strange name is fast becoming a household word in Southeast Alaska.

PAUST: "I have occasionally heard them pronounced GEO-DUCKS. But no, they're "gooey-ducks." It's a Nisqualy Indian derivation, and it means something like giant clams that dig deep."

That's Brian Paust, the University of Alaska's marine advisory agent in Petersburg. A sort of fountain of information about all things marine, Paust says geoduck clams can get pretty big.

PAUST: "Real big clams are in the range of 14 to 20 pounds, but those are rare giants. More common are a pound to two pounds. Geoducks are thought to be the largest burrowing clams in the world."

Geoducks are prized for their tender meat that's used in sushi and other seafood. But they're not easy to catch. Divers like Mike Bangs of Petersburg must walk on the sea floor where geoducks bury themselves in the sand and mud. He wears a heavy rubber suit and helmet, and breathes through a hose that brings air down from the surface. Another hose that pumps compressed air through a pipe is used to blow mud and silt away from the clam.

BANGS: "And you walk around on the bottom and locate a dimple or a neck of the geoduck. Then you get down on your hands and knees, and you quickly pop this pipe down in there, being careful not to damage the geoduck. And as soon as you blow a hole there, you reach down with your other hand and grab ahold of their neck. You work the neck and probe back and forth until you blow the mud and sand away from the neck. You have to hold on to it and get it loose with water pressure. It will try to suck its neck back to the shell, but you keep working it with water pressure until it pops out of the shell. Then you put it in the bag and look for another one."

Last year, fishermen harvested nearly 200,000 pounds of geoducks this way. It's not surprising that fishermen would like to catch even more geoducks. One problem though, is that no one knows where all the geoduck beds are. Biologist Bob Larson with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says surveys and population information are needed.

LARSON: "The commercial fishery has been going on since 1983. There is interest in expanding that fishery, both on the state's part and on the industry's part. They're fairly valuable items. Much of the range of geoducks where we expect to find them has not been adequately surveyed. So there's at least the potential that the number of geoducks that we could catch would be increased if we just went out and looked."

Another problem vexing the industry is the natural toxin called paralytic shellfish poison, or PSP. Strict regulations require geoducks be tested for PSP. Such tests used to be free, but divers soon will be required to pay. Bangs says that may make it too expensive to stay in business.

BANGS "It costs us $40 to $50 to ship them, so it's over $200 just to have one geoduck tested. And each diver is responsible for testing three geoducks out of each lot. If one of them turns up positive for PSP, then none can be sold alive."

A solution that's gaining support is a proposal to locate a new, privately run testing lab in Sitka. Still, divers like Larry Trany say the money to be made will keep the interest in geoducks high for some time to come.

TRANY: "These geoducks are worth nine to ten dollars a pound alive. When you're pulling four or five pounders out of the sand, that's $50 bills you're pulling out of the sand. So you can see the gold rush mentality really kicks in here."

The next Southeast Alaska geoduck fishery is slated to open in February.

OUTRO: For Arctic Science Journeys Radio, this is Robert Hannon reporting from Fairbanks, Alaska.