Swinomish Indian Tribal Community builds first modern clam garden in the United States

Описание: Over two days in August, Swinomish Indian Tribal Community members and invited guests passed rocks from hand to hand to build a 2-foot-high, 200-foot-long rock wall on the shore of Kukutali Preserve.

“The rock wall will form a terrace for our sea garden,” said Swinomish tribal member Joe Williams, the tribe’s shellfish community liaison. “As sediment builds up behind the wall and we tend to our garden, it will increase the abundance of all different sorts of sea life, such as shellfish, sea cucumbers, urchins, kelp and seaweed.”

By naturally leveling off the slope of the beach and increasing intertidal biodiversity, the area eventually should support harvestable numbers of clams and oysters, but not for years or even a generation. That increased biodiversity will increase climate resilience. Clam gardens also can adapt to sea level rise and their high concentration of shell fragments can counter some of the effects of ocean acidification.

This traditional shellfish cultivation method dates back thousands of years, but there are no known clam gardens still functioning in the United States. In British Columbia, the W̱SÁNEĆ and Hul’q’umi’num First Nations have partnered with Parks Canada to restore clam gardens in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.