Hardshell Clams (Quahog/Littleneck) Found at Burnham?

[Normalfornorfolk]

Whilst planning recipes just now I discovered a reference on t'internet that these little beauties were found in scattered colonies in UK, including Burnham on Crouch.
Has anyone seen them, found them or their shells? Or found any esewhere in UK for that matter.
Chowder is calling!


The shells can be up to 4-5 in across in USA, doubtless smaller here but still pretty large for shellfish.

 

[DavidofMersea]

Whilst planning recipes just now I discovered a reference on t'internet that these little beauties were found in scattered colonies in UK, including Burnham on Crouch.
Has anyone seen them, found them or their shells? Or found any esewhere in UK for that matter.
Chowder is calling!

View attachment 69570
The shells can be up to 4-5 in across in USA, doubtless smaller here but still pretty large for shellfish.

I have seen them in Mersea

 

[johnalison]

Is it safe to eat uncultivated, and therefore presumably uneducated, filter-feeders?

 

[Habebty]

Is it safe to eat uncultivated, and therefore presumably uneducated, filter-feeders?

especially from the Blackwater Bradwell area

 

[Normalfornorfolk]

Is it safe to eat uncultivated, and therefore presumably uneducated, filter-feeders?

Uncultivated, uneducated bottom feeders?
Some of that style apparently vote for Corbyn so I suppose anything must be possible.

Anyway, sludge gulping bottom feeders aside, we were discussing shellfish...

 

[Ali-alshira]

There was a man collecting clams at Bridgemarsh a few years ago on a pretty lucrative commercial basis. He said there were two species, one of which was more valuable than the other, but almost all were exported to Spain. They were only about an inch across, but i don't know whether they were the ones you have a picture of.
However, in Denmark last year, we collected large numbers of small clams from various sandy beaches. We kept them in clean sea water for 24 hours, to flush out the mud and sand, and then cooked them like mussels, discarding the ones that did not open. They were delicious. I would be quite happy to do the same with East Coast ones, when or if I find them!

 

[Daydream believer]

I get loads of their babies - about quarter of an inch across stuck to the Coppercoat on the keel of my boat every season. Do not fancy eating them though!!!!!!!