Community members and tourists flocked to Pismo Beach on Oct. 19 for the 78th Annual Pismo Beach Clam Festival. This two-day event celebrated the region’s clam culture, and historic return of adult clams in the area for the first time in 30 years.
The festival featured food vendors, live music, a clam chowder cook-off and a parade.
Emma Rhoads, a stewardship lead for the Pismo Beach Stewardship and Educational Outreach program, said the festival is a great way to educate individuals on the importance of clam conservation.
Proper adult clams have not been seen in the Pismo Beach area for thirty years—until recently, as clams are beginning to reach adult size, Rhoads said.
“We really want that story to be told to protect them,” Rhoads said. “We want to keep seeing more, and we want to keep seeing that increase.”
In addition to spreading awareness, Rhoads aims to continue research on increasing the clam population.
“We are trying to figure out how to keep those numbers going and what led to them showing back up in the last few years in insane numbers,” Rhoads said.
The Cal Poly Marine Conservation Lab also attended the festival to spread awareness about the clam population. The lab conducts monthly surveys to determine the number of clams in the area and has monitored Pismo Beach’s clam population for over ten years.
“We track their abundance and growth over time to try to understand what’s going on with their populations and how we can help inform the fisheries management,” said Marissa Bills, graduate student and head of the project.
With the return of adult-sized clams to the area, the lab believes it is very important to educate the public on clamming regulations, Bills said.
With the return of adult clams to Pismo Beach, this year’s festival marks a successful collective effort by the community and conservation organizations and renewed hope for the clam population to thrive, Rhoads said.