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explains for clam farms to work a harvester needs to havefire in the belly skin in the game and a sense of delayed reward. Farms require an upfront investment of both capital and labor as well as continuous maintenance yet the financial rewards only come after two or three years. No harvester would invest money and labor to then have his harvest open to everyone at the end. For clam farming to work the clammers investment has to be legally protected through to final harvest. Some harvesters in Georgetown are uncomfortable with this change. Even though the farm only encompasses 2.3 unproductive acres out of the towns 1200 acres of open inter- tidal flats it represents a threat to a tradition that they hold sacred. Harvesters in Georgetown may be able to successfully dig clams as an open harvest for a couple more summers but many harvesters from other towns who have seen their local clam populations collapse see the farm as the only viable way out and are anxious to see the results of the experiment. One year after planting the mud under the nets is full of telltale holes made by the siphons of the bivalves as they break the muds surface to filter food from the water column. Earlier this yearWarner spoke to a group of fishermen from Harpswell and Brunswick who were taking part in a seven- week aquaculture course. Although the program was open to all types of fishermen nearly everyone in the class was a soft- shell clammerlooking for a way forward. During his talk Warner told the class that he had a choice that night go to the Shellfish Committee and ask once again for his extension or come educate a group of clammers who are ready for a change. Every day of the week I will choose to be right here he told them.Were looking at the future of this industry and its bright for the first time. Conclusion Soft-shell clam harvesters in Maine are faced with a chal- lenge. A pestspread by humans and worsened by humans through greenhouse-gas-induced ocean warmingis threaten- ing the traditional open harvest that has shaped the clamming industry for centuries. Green crabs and climate change have conspired to alter the conditions for softshell clamming which in turn has changed the needs of clammers. While the intertidal clam flats should continue to exist as a common good perhaps as Ostrom offers in her eight principles for managing a commons the rules governing the resource should change to match the local conditions. The experimental clam farm in Georgetown is just one example of how we have to adapt to the world weve created and become better stewards of nature which provides so much to our economy our culture and our well-being. I am Manomet Ive been a shellsh harvester on the Maine coast my whole life. I want my kids to have the same opportunity. I believe people can take care of our natural resources and use them sustainably across generations. I believe its my responsibility. Chris Warner Shellsh Harvester Manomet Partnerships for Sustainability Summer 2015 7