Cal Poly researchers tag clams at Pismo Beach. Here’s how you can help their study
If you go digging for Pismo clams at Pismo State Beach anytime soon, you might notice a few have some new bling.
Cal Poly researchers are gluing QR codes, special numbered tags and magnets to the iconic shellfish in San Luis Obispo County to help them better study the species.
“This is certainly a unique way to study them, but we’re hopeful it’ll get us some good results,” said Cal Poly graduate student Marissa Bills.
Bills and a team of other Cal Poly students overseen by associate professor Ben Ruttenberg were out at Pismo State Beach Friday evening to dig up about 100 clams and “bedazzle” them with the QR codes.
The QR codes, number tags and magnets are all safe for the shellfish, Bills said.
Once they’re reburied back in the sand, Bills said what happens next is largely up to the community.
If you spot a Pismo clam on the beach with the tags glued to it, Bills wants you to scan the QR code with your phone’s camera.
You’ll then be directed to a website that asks what number your Pismo clam is (a small green tag on the clam will have its number), if the clam is alive or dead, where you found your clam and to take a photo of the clam.
The reason? Science.
“We don’t know how much Pismo clams move or how often they die,” Bills said. “This will help us figure that out and help us understand their growth rates so we might know when we may see 4.5-inch clams again.”
Pismo clams need to be at least that long to be legally harvested. Anything smaller can land you a hefty fine from California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Bills said she hopes this community-aided research may eventually help them understand the population size of the Pismo clams.
Pismo clams have struggled to grow to their pre-21st century population size due to overharvesting throughout the 1900s.
The shellfish are often poached these days, and a 4.5-inch legal-sized clam hasn’t been reported since 1993, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
However, Pismo clams have seen a promising resurgence in the past two years, according to Ruttenberg and Fish and Wildlife researchers.
Hundreds recently surfaced at the southern portion of Pismo State Beach near Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, causing them to be crushed under car tires.
And people from Morro Bay and Cayucos have told The Tribune they’ve found Pismo clams on their beaches recently.
Bills and her team will return to Pismo State Beach to tag more clams every few months. They’ll also search for already-tagged clams to see if they’ve moved, grown or died.
Already, the team was surprised by what they found Friday evening.
“We recaptured some that we had buried with tags here in August, in basically the same spot that they were before,” Bills said.
The discovery was “awesome,” Bills said, because they’d only buried a few dozen in August, so finding any clams at all was a huge success.
To learn more about what the researchers at Cal Poly are doing with Pismo clams, you can visit www.marine.calpoly.edu/pismo-clam.
This story was originally published October 9, 2021 at 12:43 PM.
