Video Scripts
Title: Florida Hard Clams
Length: 6:06
From citrus, to row crops, to livestock ... Florida farmers have been growing America's food for generations.
And beneath the shimmering waves off Florida's coast lie the state's newest and fastest-growing crop: farm-raised hard clams.
Long thought of as a strictly northern product, hard clams have found a niche in the warm saltwaters of coastal Florida. And growing clams has become a viable, and profitable, farming venture.
Leslie Sturmer: There is no doubt that clam farming is indeed farming. They are planting seed and there must be husbandry involved in that and there must be management and a planning ahead for a crop to be harvested almost a year later.
Aqua-farmers combine traditional farming techniques with the latest scientific technologies.
Beginning with breeding, and continuing through the planting and nurturing process, clam farmers selectively control the color, size and taste of Florida's hard clams.
Mike Hodges: The hatchery is pretty scientific in there. We have to learn alot about algae growth and bacteria and how they interact with each other and what affects the clams adversely and what they like.
From the controlled environment of the hatchery the clams are placed in protective nylon mesh bags and planted on the sandy bottom.
Mark Berrigan: The leases that you’ve seen in high-density lease areas are generally located anywhere from 1,500 to 2,000 feet offshore. The governor and the Cabinet, through the Department of Environmental Protection, makes submerged sovereign lands available for aquacultural activities. Generally speaking, the state, through the department, will lease submerged lands in parcels of somewhere between two and five acres.
The temperature, salinity and nutrient level of Florida's coastal waters all affect the rate at which clams grow. For instance, hard clams in the cold New England waters mature in three years. The same species of clam raised off Cedar Key grow quickly and can be harvested within a year.
During the harvest the mesh bags are brought to the surface and the clams are sorted into marketable sizes. Those too small for harvesting are replanted.
The crop of clams is delivered to packing houses where the clams are graded, weighed, and packaged for delivery around the country. Through restaurants and retailers, these farm-raised calms meet the ever-growing demand for wholesome and delicious food.
Laura Garrido: Clams are good for you because they are low in fat, low in saturated fat, and low in cholesterol. Also they provide you with good minerals like for example iron and calcium and they're low in bad minerals like sodium. They're also an excellent source of protein.
To maintain the leases' tranquil beauty, aqua-farmers developed a thin flexible marker, designed to make the surface boundaries barely visible.
Below the surface, clam farming has many environmental benefits, beginning with improved water quality. Acting as natural filters, clams continually purify the surrounding water.
Clam bags, which serve as an ideal substitute for marine plants and animals, are quickly inhabited by billions of marine organisms. In this way, clam farms enhance the resource by increasing the base of the food chain. Once-barren sections of the ocean floor are converted to valuable reefs.
Clam farming has a positive impact on coastal economies, providing hundreds of new jobs for local residents. Secondary industries such as the construction of aquaculture nurseries and the manufacture of clamming equipment have also sprung up in clam farming communities.
Don Lindsey: I think that you'll see more companies coming in as far as anything to do with the clam farming because there's a lot that companies could build.
Mike Hodges: The ripple effect from the industry here has helped the whole town, the whole community has benefitted from the restaurants right on up to the hardware stores. Everybody has benefitted from the industry here. The economic impact to of aquaculture, mainly clam farming, looks great, it really does. And it'll be a viable industry here for years to come
From enhancing the environment, to benefiting the economy, to adding variety to the dinner table, delicious farm-raised clams are fast becoming a prized Florida favorite.
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