Like most people, I like to eat. Tragically, however, too many Americans cannot access food in sufficient quality or quantity.
Is the era of safe and affordable food, conceptualized and nurtured by President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Morrill Act in 1862, over? Not if Salem State University and the people of Massachusetts have any input.
Thanks to ongoing work at the university's Cat Cove Marine Laboratory (CCML) — opened officially in April 1999 by then-Gov. Paul Cellucci with strong support from former state representatives Anthony Verga of Gloucester and J. Michael Ruane of Salem and state Sens. Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and Fred Berry, D-Peabody — Salem State continues to teach students and the public how to apply basic biological principles to real-world challenges. This includes:
Promoting the sustainable use of our shared coastal heritage and environment;
Preserving working waterfronts and their closely allied fishing traditions; and
Ensuring local and national food security, job creation and income generation.
Housed within SSU's Biology Department and home to the Northeastern Massachusetts Aquaculture Center, Cat Cove provides a wealth of hands-on experiences to dozens of traditional and nontraditional students annually, some of whom, like alumnus Yorgos Gregory and former student Tom Orsillo, pursue aquaculture as careers. Gregory operates Imagine an Ocean in Beverly, which maintains and installs freshwater and saltwater aquaria, while Orsillo owns and operates Gloucester Fish and Game in nearby Gloucester.
Our facility also serves commercial fisheries. More than a half-dozen operations that grow freshwater fish commercially in Massachusetts turn to CCML as a resource for technical assistance and as a source of knowledgeable employees. While freshwater initiatives are important — as they create jobs and spawn new industries — the main focus of CCML remains the culture of marine organisms, most notably soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria).
Popular locally, soft-shell clams are consumed both steamed and fried, giving rise to their common names, "steamers" and "Ipswich clams." It is that very popularity, however, that has led to over-exploitation and habitat degradation. The unfortunate result is depleted wild populations.
Collaborating closely with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, CCML assists dozens of Massachusetts towns with community-initiated efforts to restore and enhance soft-shell clam abundance in intertidal waters.
Our assistance includes technical advice to communities that explore and identify options, as is happening in Essex and Boston. Meanwhile, Winthrop, Quincy, Hull, Weymouth and Hingham use CCML for hands-on assistance with site selection, stocking and maintenance.
While some towns, including Gloucester, Ipswich and Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard, elect to pursue public aquaculture; others establish provisions for modest-sized leases of 2 acres or less so residents can pursue private aquaculture. This is the case in Barnstable and Rowley.
Regardless of the origination (public vs. private aquaculture) or the goal (restoration of historic clam beds or the enhancement of existing ones), all the soft-shell clams currently being stocked in Massachusetts' coastal communities were spawned and reared at Salem State's marine laboratory. The consistent production of clams for distribution throughout Massachusetts and increasingly the Northeast, is facilitated by Salem State student workers under the guidance and supervision of hatchery manager Scott Weston.
Soft-shell clams, regardless of how and where they're cultivated, share a common destiny. When they attain legal market size or, preferably, optimal market size, they are harvested, marketed and consumed.
Harvest data obtained from growers and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries show an anticipated 25 to 30 percent survival rate for stocked clams.
A partial inventory of coastal communities collaborating with our facilities at Cat Cove shows 57.5 acres currently supplied with soft-shell clams. Using recently obtained price data for soft-shell clams harvested in 2010, the cash value of the clams produced by Massachusetts growers was approximately $1.38 million.
While the cash value of soft-shell clams speaks to the economic impact of our work at Cat Cove, it is important that we not forget the ecological benefits these clams provide the commonwealth. As they remove and sequester nutrients from the water column, they also improve our coastal water quality.
Ten years ago, no soft-shell clam aquaculture industry existed. Thanks to the efforts of CCML, the state's Division of Marine Fisheries, its Department of Agricultural Resources, and the citizenry of Massachusetts, a fledgling industry is expanding annually and poised for significant growth.
The successes we've realized with our development of a sustainable, soft-shell clam industry have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.
Commercial fishermen, selectmen and conservation committees in Gloucester and Rockport have now been inspired to investigate and nurture long-line culture of blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in the sub-tidal waters off Cape Ann. The initiative, under the leadership of Salem State biologists Dr. Mark Fregeau and Ted Maney, involves a spectrum of participants from Gloucester, Rockport and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The ongoing process with mussels is developing nicely, and we fully expect it to morph over the next half-decade into a second Salem State University-inspired sustainable industry, one that keeps watermen on the water, perpetuates a fishing tradition, and feeds residents of Massachusetts and the nation with the highest-quality seafood product possible.
• • •
Dr. Joseph K. Buttner is a professor of biology at Salem State University.
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