Population genomics of the basket cockle Clinocardium nuttallii in the southern Salish Sea

The basket cockle Clinocardium nuttallii is among the favored foods of Indigenous people along the northwest Pacific coast of North America, yet localized declines in their abundance have led to interest in stock enhancement efforts. We used a population genomics approach to examine potential risks associated with stock enhancement of C. nuttallii in the southern Salish Sea, a large inland estuary that includes Puget Sound. More than 8,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms across 349 individuals at 12 locations were assembled de novo using restriction-site associated DNA sequencing.