Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has introduced a bill that would investigate the decline of hard shell clams and other bivalves throughout the Eastern Seaboard.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., is co-sponsoring the Quantifying Uncertainty and Action to Help Optimize Growth of Shellfish (QUAHOGS) Act.

Northern quahogs, Rhode Island’s state clam, have been declining since the 1980s. At the state level, the General Assembly has sought to identify the source of the problem and a solution to the decline of the culturally and economically important shellfish.

Last year, a study commission recommended transplanting quahogs in Narragansett Bay and monitoring the clams. A contingent of local fishermen has been vocal over concerns that reduced nitrogen levels in the bay, associated with the improved water quality, could be the cause of the decline, although the state has yet to approve a nitrogen infusion plan.

“Quahogging in Narragansett Bay is a quintessential Rhode Island trade whose harvest brings us the Ocean State summer staples of clear chowder and stuffies,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “Unfortunately, quahog and other shellfish landings are in steady decline across the Eastern seaboard, and it’s been difficult for shell fisherman and researchers to pinpoint exactly why.”

If passed, the bill would create a task force composed of members from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Agriculture, as well as representatives from the States Fishery Management Councils, Indigenous tribes, the shellfishing industry, and academics along the East Coast.

The task force would be charged with creating a report that includes, “the current knowledge on bivalve decline, forecast future research, and [highlights] the financial and regulatory barriers hurting shellfish aquaculture,” according to a press release announcing the bill.