Fort McMurray Métis and government study health of ‘disappearing’ freshwater clams – CBC

‘My only assumption is that it has got to be something in the waters’ says Métis elder

Oct 27, 2017

Harvey Sykes remembers when he was a child and his father would toss freshwater clams fished from Fort McMurray’s two rivers into a pot of fish chowder.

Today, he can hardly find any when he goes out on the water.

“Back in those days, there was an abundance of clams,” said Sykes. “It seems now they are disappearing at an alarming rate.”

Sykes, a McMurray Métis board member and elder, tells stories about walking along the Clearwater or the Athabasca rivers and kicking clam shells scattered on the shore. They were everywhere then. Finding one these days is like finding buried treasure.

Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-metis-clams-1.4373299