During review of this manuscript, it was pointed out that northern Macoma balthica populations differ from those located further south. Given that the parameterization of the clam model was largely based on these northern populations, it was unclear how the model results would change if the clam model more closely reflected southern populations. The three primary concerns raised were: (1) the life-history characteristics of the clams in the Neuse River system differed from those used in the model (higher growth rates, larger size at maturity, and spawning occurred earlier in spring and later in fall than specified), (2) clam densities in the model were at the high end and crab densities at the low end of those observed empirically, and (3) clam recruitment was too low in shallow parts of the estuary. To assess the impacts of these factors, separate simulation studies were done for each of these three cases (detailed below) in addition to the case where all three factors were changed together.