i found clams in a river?

Question

they look pretty clean....I found them in a large river by the edge

i will clean/ cook them....do you think the are safe to eat??

its in the farmington river in simsbury, ct.
near the top of CT

Answer 1

First, zebra shell clams are to small to eat, the size of a dime or smaller. Second, some areas like in Michigan, the clams will be huge but, are also protected. These are considered "game" in many areas and are protected or come under the game laws, make sure you know what your doing, it could cost you a lot of money. Also, clams and other bottom feeding creatures do exactly that, feed off the bottom or on decaying bottom material, this means pollutants also, so, that means whatever that clam has eaten, your going to get including the bacteria from it.

In other words, I wouldn't eat it if I were you. I won't even take a chance on commercial clams caught in rivers. They still ingest everything from the bottom that's rotting.

Answer 2

Contact the fish and game commission or whatever your state calls it, and ask them. DNR, FWC, someone keeps track of pollutants in state waterways and determines the safety of the seafood that occurs in it. Without verifying that these clams came from what the state has determined to be allowable waterways, you never know what you could be eating along with them... mercury, lead, pesticides, lord only knows what else.....

Don't do it, man, it's not worth it.

Answer 3

eat'em if you want to, make sure you cook'em good though, the Farmington is a pretty clean river

Answer 4

uuuh.... no dont most definetly they are probably zebra shells. if they are contact the wildlife service and tell them they you found them there because they are not native to this country and endanger the rest of the tributaries.