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MILES O'BRIEN: These tiny creatures are arctic surf clams.
They're getting packed up for a trip to the shore. With some
help, they're about to take up residence in an intertidal
mudflat on the Maine coast. "Downeast," as they
say around here.
BRIAN BEAL: What we're doing is looking to see whether or not we
can diversify the U.S. product for shellfish and at the same
time try to increase the number of jobs that people would have
around this particular species.
MILES O'BRIEN: Brian Beal is a marine ecologist with the
University of Maine at Machias. With support from the National
Science Foundation, he and a team based at the Downeast
Institute are putting their aquaculture innovation skills to
work. They're focused on two types of shellfish with the
potential to bring more jobs and dollars to the area--blue
mussels and arctic surf clams.
BRIAN BEAL: So these offspring here are about two years old…
And when you go into Canada, this particular species, this
arctic surf clam, is a $50 million industry there and it's
a zero dollar industry here. When it's cooked, it has a very,
very distinct color, very, very appealing and its taste
is very nice.
MILES O'BRIEN: But it's no small task to develop a viable
new commercial species from the ground up. They've worked out a
lot of the kinks. Like showing the clams can survive, even
thrive, when farmed here. And coaxing them to spawn in the
hatchery, so they can build up stock. But there is a problem.
The green crab is an invasive species that has taken this part
of the Maine coast by storm in recent decades, and has a
particular taste for the arctic surf clam.
BRIAN BEAL: We are not sure why but it's either one of two
things--they're either easier to open or they're better for
the animal and so it just, it gets more energy from them.
MILES O'BRIEN: Beal says the obvious solution is to keep the
clams in nurseries like these until they're big enough that
the crabs can't break them open. But that could take over a year
and make the whole effort cost prohibitive.
BRIAN BEAL: If we can't do the next step, to grow out to
commercial sizes in the field at any reasonable survival rate,
well then, you know.
MILES O'BRIEN: They've tried caging the clams inside PVC
pipes closed off with mesh. The crabs made short work of those.
But they're hot at work on a new design. On the other hand, blue
mussels aren't new to Maine. They've been a part of the
seafood industry here for years.
BRIAN BEAL: That particular species is one where people are
culturing it by collecting the small juveniles on ropes that
they suspend from docks in the water column.
MILES O'BRIEN: Beal's team wants to make mussel aquaculture
more of a turnkey operation. They've figured out their
spawning behaviors at the hatchery, determined what kinds
of algae work best for their diet, and even tested different
kinds of rope to see which the mussels attach to best.
They've developed a novel bag system to keep them contained
as they grow.
BRIAN BEAL: The incorporation of the bag to simply catch those
that fall off or jump off would be certainly useful to ensure
that none of these mussels are going to go on to the bottom.
MILES O'BRIEN: Beal sees a day when farmers would buy ropes
already seeded with juveniles, bagged up and ready to go in the
water. It's the kind of innovation that drives him. He
grew up here, working on the water, and wants to find ways to
give back to the community.
BRIAN BEAL: I feel very lucky to be able to do these projects
and do this research that not only scratch my scientific
curiosity but also can help, and have helped, clammers and lobster
fishermen and worm diggers and scallopers and people that make
their living off of the ocean.
MILES O'BRIEN: It seems even in the fishing industry, you reap
what you sow.
For Science Nation, I'm Miles O'Brien.