Catching razor clams.
The rivers that flow into the sea along the coast of Huelva form beaches of fine
sand, which are the blessing of the region and also its curse: they encourage
tourist developments, which eat away at the coastline.
But they never manage to devour it completely. In the underwater world,
hundreds of creatures still win out against the action of the waves and that of
the humans: sea-whips, bryozoons, seaweeds …
All essential for the survival of larger creatures, like the spider crab …
And for the local fishermen to be able to catch food in their traps.
Nets, ropes and pieces of metal lie on the seabed, reminders of wrecked
vessels, solitary empty decks inhabited no longer by seamen but by
multicoloured epyphytes.
Corals, ascidiiae, sea-whips … Anemones, sponges … Fish
rainbow wrasse … And the spiny scorpion fish.
such as the
The alcatruz or jar-trap is the traditional method used to catch octopus. Many of
these jars are now scattered over the seabed, lost or abandoned in favour of
the lighter version made of plastic.
But the real treasure of the underwater world lies in its organisms.
The razor clam has a muscular foot which enables it to bury itself at great speed
in the sand.
Imaginative methods have been invented on the Atlantic coast of Andalusia for
catching the razor clam, also known as a longuerón. To catch them all you
really need is a plastic bottle full of salt. When mixed with water, the salt
becomes brine, which is poured around the hole in the sand into which the razor
clam has burrowed, and causes it to react. It detects a change in the process of
osmosis, and responds by coming to the surface and firing out a decoy. This
decoy would fool most ordinary predators.
But today’s predator is more dangerous than others, and is prepared to trap his
prey. Even so, the task is not easy. You have to be quick and accurate to seize
the creature, which would otherwise bury itself again in an instant. If it were not
for this speed and agility, the razor clam, with its fragile shells, would fall victim
to predators of all kinds. Catching a mere handful of them, in consequence, is
quite hard work. When none can be found in the shallows, the men go into
deeper water and spend more time there just to get a small bundle of razor
clams; a mollusk that for some is an exquisite delicacy and for others an
example of the precarious livelihood of those who live from the sea.