Highlights:- A Billion Clams for a Healthier Charlotte Harbor is a plan under developed.
- The goal is to reduce red tide in the Florida´s west coast, starting through Charlotte County. - Red tide has made clam´s farmers to lose their jobs. |
The ABC of Charlotte HarborBy Giovanna Kubota
It´s not news that Florida´s west coast faces red tide every year – especially during the summer. But a wave of toxic algae blooms has been preventing people to enjoy their time at the beaches and severely harming the environment since October of 2017, and researchers and scientist are trying their best to find a solution to this problem.
Known for being one of the best spots to sail in Florida, Charlotte Harbor is a small region in Charlotte County that is surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico. It´s also the home of many fisherman and shellfish farmers who dedicate their lives to the water. Barry Hurt is one of them. The 69-year-old clam farmer has been in the field for 13 years and was concerned to learn that many people were losing their jobs because of the red tide and decided to create a plan to change that. A Billion Clams for a Healthier Charlotte Harbor -also known as the ABC plan – is being developed by Hurt and a group of scientists and environmental specialists from different parts of the state in order to restore clam´s farming and protect them from both commercial and recreational harvest in Charlotte Harbor. “Charlotte Harbor has more nutrients in its waters than most natural harbors,” Hurt said. The idea is to increase the growth of native clams to improve the water quality and reduced the harmful algae bloom caused thought the consumption of Karenia Brevis – microscopical toxic organism responsible for the Florida Red Tide. A small clam can filter up to five gallons of sea water per day, and the filter feeding process can also remove the algae from the water column and release its nutrients to the environment, promoting sea grass growth and supporting some organisms that live in sediments such as worms and brittle stars, according to the ABC plan brochure. “The intent of this project is to mitigate the effects of red tide blooms through the filter-seeding capacity of bivalves, in particular the native clam,” shellfish aquaculture specialist Leslie Sturmer said. Sturmer is one of the six science advisers of the ABC plan and she believes the project will help local shellfish farmers whose farms were temporarily closed to harvesting due to red tides. Another adviser is Betty Staugler, who is the Charlotte County extension agent for the Florida Sea Grant College Program. She provided a series of benefits of the project in an article for the West Villages Sun, including the fact that clams extract carbon from the seawater to make their shells, providing a source of carbon sequestration. In order to start the plan within the next six months, Hurt and his team are seeking funding sources though their website Clams Restore. “It´s not going to be cheap,” Hurt said. “If we can reduce the red tides and increase the regulations for the protection of the environment, it would be worth it.” |