SHELLFISH BENEFIT
COASTAL COMMUNITIES
AND OUR ENVIRONMENT





SHELLFISH SUPPORT COASTAL ECONOMIES





According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), shellfish aquaculture totaled $15.5 million from 111 reporting operations in 2018, with Florida ranking 3rd and 6th in the nation for clam and oyster sales, respectively (FDACS 2020). Shellfish aquaculture is also becoming increasingly necessary to meet seafood demand following the collapse of wild fisheries, such as the Apalachicola oyster industry. Increasing shellfish production via aquaculture will support livelihoods and create resilient, working waterfronts for generations to come.



SHELLFISH CLEAN OUR WATER





Bivalve shellfish, like clams, oysters, and scallops, are filter feeding organisms, consuming the microscopic algae in our seawater. Removing phytoplankton cleans our water by improving water clarity and capturing nutrients, which contribute to further algal blooms. A single clam ~2 inches-long can filter an estimated 4.5 gallons of water per day (UF/IFAS 2015). In the video, UF/IFAS Shellfish Extension demonstrates the power of clam filtration, which cleans approximately 8 gallons of seawater in little over an hour. Typically, Florida clam growers have densities of ~2 million clams per acre on their leases.



SHELLFISH SUPPORT MARINE ECOSYSTEMS





Clams, oysters, and scallops link the water above to sediments below via filtration, transferring nutrients to the seafloor and benefiting submerged aquatic vegetation. Clams have been shown to increase recovery of seagrass following simulated disturbance (Donaher et al. 2021) and the coupling of seawater to sediments further supports seagrass productivity through increased water clarity (Wall et al. 2008).


Oysters uniquely aggregate to form complex "reefs," which serve as habitat for other marine life. Intertidal and subtidal oyster reefs support crustaceans, mollusks, commercial and recreational finfish, as well as migratory wading birds (Grabowski et al. 2012, Vitale et al. 2021).