Above left, an osprey with its recent catch. At right, dolphins surfacing.
The abundance of life that Charlotte Harbor offers is why it’s so important to protect our waterways.
Filter feeding clams remove algae from the
water column and transfer the nutrients to the
benthic environment (the lowest level of the
underwater ecosystem). These nutrients can
promote sea grass growth, which also serves
another valuable purpose. Our area’s sea
grass is gone by more than 75 percent … but
sea grass is needed by many creatures to stay
alive, including manatees. Transferring that
algae down to the bottom fl oor of the water
also feeds the organisms that live there, which
further balances the ecosystem.
According to Hurt’s website,
clamrestoration.com, the ABC Project
utilizes an existing workforce who
has the knowledge, skills and tools
to restore long depleted native clam
resources - our local clam farmers.
“Our local farmers cannot harvest
during red tide events, evaporating
jobs, eliminating cash fl ow thus
placing their farms in economic peril,”
Hurt said. “The plan proposes to put
this local industry to work by setting
aside suffi cient qualifi ed acreage
to be restored by establishing
permanent clam beds protected from
both commercial and recreational
harvest. Through the husbandry of
You can determine the age of a clam by
counting the rings almost like a tree. This
would have been 50-60 years of age.
experienced farmers, these clam beds will
mature and become self-recruiting, leading to
an increase in native populations over time.”
There are two types of clams that play
an important role to clam farmers in our
ecosystem - Mercenaria campechiensi,
which is an almost non-existent native clam,
the southern quahog, and Mercenaria
mercenaria, the northern quahog that is
artifi cially farmed here. These two species
commonly hybridize where their ranges
overlap.
/clamrestoration.com