What's behind the seemingly rising price of fried clams in N.B.
After a recent Facebook post where a customer shared a receipt from a Cap-Pelé take-out that showed a plate of fried clams and a can of pop costing $40, which was shared hundreds of times and generated some strong reaction from New Brunwsickers, that got us wondering — has the cost of the fried delicacy really skyrocketed all that much?
Unlike lobster — where the price became so high, fast food giant McDonalds decided to pull the McLobster from its summer menu this year — those who work in the clam industry say there wasn't a sudden rise this season.
Rather they say, the price of the summertime Maritime favourite has been creeping up over the last decade, and that may be why people are noticing a difference.
In fact, Tim Williston, who's been in the seafood industry for 30 years, and opened Cocagne Seafood this year — a supplier of clams and other seafood — is quick to dismiss comparisons with the thriving lobster industry.
A tough business
"I don't think anybody's getting rich," said Williston.
"It's a tough business when you got to make your year in four months, five months, six months."
Williston buys clams from up to 10 harvesters who dig part-time around Neguac and Baie-Saint-Anne, and a handful of others in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
Although he said there wasn't a substantial rise in the price of clams this year, he did notice a big jump a few years ago.
"Clams were hard to come by. There was demand in the States. There was closures of certain areas where they couldn't harvest, and I think it just escalated from there," said Williston.
Some areas in New Brunswick have been closed to digging because of the risk the clams —who are filter feeders— get contaminated with animal or human fecal material, according to the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
"But I think the biggest reason the price of clams is up from the harvester to the consumer at the plate would be — I don't think the next generation is picking up the shovel and going to the beach to make a living," said Williston.
Williston said there's not a whole lot of clam diggers left out there. Of the more than 600 clam licences that were once issued for northern New Brunswick, he believes only a few dozens are still active.
Hard thing to find
Over at Chez Leo in Shediac Bridge, where fried clams are a crowd favourite, Justin Bourgeois, manager and son of the owner, says he feels for the businesses that were singled out online.
He said clams have been hard to get at a good price as of late.
"They're always a hard thing to come by, to find," said Bourgeois.
"Sometimes you're completely shorted, you can't even get the product. That's what we sell the most, and that's a big part of our work — to make sure we can get them, and through the right price."
Bourgeois said there's only a handful of clam suppliers in New Brunswick, putting stress on restaurants who face a huge demand during the summer months.
He agrees to say fishermen upped their prices a few years ago.
"Seven to 10 years ago, the price doubled on our backdoor," said Bourgeois.
"So what we've been doing is creep the price slowly for the past 10 years."
Still, at a little over $18 for a fried clams plate, Bourgeois believes his prices are fair.
