A Clam Farming Presentation

Last Sunday, after the Nature Coast Birding and Wildlife Experience, our Gainesville Slow Food Convivium came to Cedar Key for a presentation about clam farming by Leslie Sturmer from the Multi-County Aquaculture Extension Service. As we've mentioned in previous posts, the Slow Food group has visited several local farms, and clam farms fit the pattern in their own way.

When net fishing was banned off Florida's coasts, Cedar Key fishermen began clam farming. Cedar Key is now one of the premier producers of farm-raised clams in the country.

Of course, clam farms aren't quite like vegetable farms. The farmers start with a lunch-bag size sack of thousands of seed clams. They hold them in a nursery table through which they pump a continuous flow of Gulf water until the baby clams are big enough not to slip through the net bag in which they are then staked to the bottom of the Gulf in the underwater farms that the farmers lease from the State.

In a year and a half or so, the very heavy bags are harvested full of grown clams!

Pretty nifty farm visit, which was followed by an spectacular clam feast and Pot Luck dinner at our Cedar Key house. We had about 35 people in our little house, and, as you might imagine with a bunch of folks who believe food should be slow, good, clean, and fair...wonderful pot luck treats.