Welcome to the Clam Garden Network website

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We invite you to explore these pages to learn about the social and ecological importance of traditional mariculture practices and experience the magic of clam gardens.

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Clam gardens are ancient intertidal features constructed by coastal First Nations of British Columbia (Canada) and Native Americans of Washington State and Alaska (USA), to enhance shellfish productivity and to feed the people. They are one of many techniques and practices enacted by Indigenous Peoples to maintain or increase the production of culturally important foods, including clams. These practices are encompassed within age-old social, economic, and spiritual beliefs and practices of coastal First Peoples.  

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Indigenous Peoples throughout the Pacific Northwest Coast are reclaiming these traditional practices as a means to enhance food security and sovereignty by creating sustainable food systems, to support claims to rights and title to local marine ecosystems, and to reconnect with and revive ancestral practices.

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Clam gardens and other culturally important clam beaches have a legacy as important places of learning. These are places for First Nations youth to learn from their elders about clams and marine systems, cultural values, cosmology, economics, and the importance of family.