Clam farmers' harvest tasty, good for Georgia

July 27, 2008
By Teresa Stepzinski | The Times-Union

CRESCENT - Charlie Phillips doesn't have a row to hoe. His crop grows on the bottom of the Julington River and is prized on dinner plates as far away as Canada.

Phillips, 53, is a clam farmer. He is at the forefront of Georgia's burgeoning shellfish aquaculture business, anchored primarily in McIntosh County where he owns and operates Sapelo Sea Farms.

This is probably one of the best uses of natural resources, and one of the cleanest.

It is one of the few things you can do that's good for the environment and the economy, too," said Phillips, who is one of the state's leading clam producers.

Charlie Phillips, clam farmer.

A commercial fisherman for 33 years, Phillips was among the first to cultivate the tasty mollusks in the mid-1990s when the industry was established in Georgia. He is passionate about promoting and protecting the ecologically fragile fishery, which is vulnerable to on-shore pollution such as runoff containing fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Phillips and 21-year-old employee LaQuinton Gibson waded waist-deep in the river Monday to harvest about 900 pounds of clams destined for restaurants and seafood markets in Savannah, Atlanta, Charleston and New York by Wednesday morning.

He shipped another 33,000 pounds harvested Thursday to Canada, where there is a hearty appetite for the shellfish, state aquaculture officials said.

Growth industry

State data ranks clam farming third behind shrimping and crabbing in Georgia's seafood industry. It is the only growing area in the seafood industry.

Six of Georgia's nine clam farmers are in McIntosh County, two are in Chatham County and one is in Camden County, said Dominic Guadagnoli, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources shellfish program manager.

"Clam farming is about a $400,000- to $500,000-a-year industry in Georgia right now," said Randal Walker, director of the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service.

Georgia's clam farming took root in 1995 as a joint effort among farmers, the marine extension service, Georgia Sea Grant specialists and the nonprofit Sapelo Foundation.

Because clams take time to grow, it wasn't until 2000 that cultivating the mollusks really became an industry. Since then, state records have shown a steady increase in the value of the annual clam harvest.

It jumped from $212,821 in 2000 to a high of $658,178 in 2005. Last year, $508,847 of clams were harvested, a 70 percent increase from 2006's $299,292 crop.

It's an environmentally friendly renewable business with "almost unlimited potential" to become an economic mainstay in Georgia, Walker said.

"It's a fairly simple operation. All you need is clam seeds, mesh bags and good water quality," Walker said.

Clams are "filter feeders" that improve water quality by eating algae and reducing nutrients as well as other solids in the water. Shellfish farmers don't use chemicals, feed or other substances that could harm the ecosystem, Walker said.

Phillips and other farmers are worried that pollution resulting from coastal development could kill off the shellfish grounds. Precautions including better local zoning ordinances and state regulations could help prevent that potential disaster, they said.

"We are so blessed to live in such a pristine place, but if we're not careful, we're going to lose it," he said.

Poaching also is a concern.

Poachers stole about $5,000 worth of clams last year from Phillips. Natural resources rangers investigated and stepped up patrols of all the area's shellfish grounds. Although no arrests were made, the rangers' efforts ended the pillaging, said Phillips, who pulled guard duty on his clams.

It's a misdemeanor punishable by up to 12 months in jail and fines up to $1,000, said Capt. Stephen Adams, commander of the rangers on the coast.

"It's sporadic, but with the economy the way it is, some people will steal whatever they can to make a buck," said Adams.

Tasty harvest

To cultivate clams, farmers must lease river bottoms from the state and abide by state and federal shellfish regulations. Clams may be harvested year-round in Georgia, Guadagnoli said.

Farmers buy pea- to dime-size seed clams from Florida or South Carolina hatcheries, because Georgia has none. They then place the seed clams on the river bottom under protective webbing to keep predators out.

Phillips stocks each bag with 1,000 seed clams, but not all survive until harvest. Horseshoe crabs, blue crabs, stone crabs and conch prey on seed and baby clams, he said. On Monday, a horseshoe crab lazily circled Phillips and Gibson as they harvested 18 bags of clams.

"We're seeing a yield usually ranging from about 500 to 800 clams per bag," he said.

It can take up to two years to grow golf ball-size littleneck clams, also known as pasta clams, which are the smallest and most popular. It can take five years to grow a tennis ball-sized "chowder clam," which is the largest harvested, he said.

Clams are sold by size, and every size has its own market. Sweeter and more tender, small clams generally are more popular than large clams, which can be chewier.

"We're getting about 15 cents to 17 cents apiece for them right now depending on the size. You have to grow a lot and sell a lot," he said.

Clam farming can flourish in Georgia, Phillips said, if nurtured by public awareness and education.

The more people know about the economic and environmental benefits of cultivating shellfish, the more likely they'll be to protect water quality, he said.

"What's important is these wild and natural places, and ensuring they will be around so future generations can make a living and enjoy them," Phillips said.

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