Operation Baby Clam in Florida

Woodburn, Kenneth

The development of dependable techniques for laboratory culture of seed clams in quantity has spurred interest in the commercial potential of growing baby clams in Florida where marketable sizes are reached sooner than in northern states. The Florida State Board of Conservation chose six people (an electronics engineer, two seafood producers, a vocational agriculture teacher, a biologist and a county planner) to receive hybrid and northern hardshell baby clams for prowing in protective boxes along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts. Additional quotas of these clams from Milford, Connecticut, were delivered to the University of Miami Marine Laboratory for direct seeding and to Florida State University for studies under the supervision of Dr. Winston Menzel. From the middle of November 1960 to the middle of June 1961, hybrid clams grew from lengths of 1/e inch or less to maximum lengths of 1 1/2 inch and northern hardshells grew from lengths of 1/4 - 1/2 inch to maximum lengths of 1 3/4 inch wherever protective boxes remained intact and predators were successfully excluded. The work is continuing with the hope that, as surviving clams grow large enough, they can be placed on suitable bottoms, enclosed within screened frames and grown to marketable size. Frequent inspection of baby clams and, preferably, local hatchery sources of seed clams are needed for successful clam farming in Florida.