Thanks to miles of shoreline and warmer waters, Florida is a hot spot for shellfish aquaculture. The Sunshine State is home to 336 certified producers who manage 720 shellfish leases; more than half of the farms produce hard clams – and production is about to increase thanks to the Clam and Seagrass Restoration Bill.
The legislation allocated $2.5 million in fiscal year 2022-2023 to purchase hard clams from local shellfish farms to establish large-scale plantings of clams and seagrass in three 250-acre estuaries in Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bay and Charlotte Harbor.
“Our water quality and healthy fisheries and healthy estuaries are really pivotal to the economy in the state of Florida,” said Angela Collins, Florida Sea Grant and UF/IFAS Extension agent and Marine extension advisor to the Gulf Shellfish Institute. “Any efforts to increase the health of these ecosystems is a good thing.”
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