For Midgett, recreational clam- 

 ming is the latest turn in a business 

 that is always evolving to keep an 

 edge. He sold clams to wholesalers for 

 about a decade. Then, a couple of 

 years ago, he began selling to restau- 

 rants. Last July, he opened a retail 

 seafood shop on the site. 



The change has been good, and 

 business picked up with each adjust- 

 ment. What remains to be seen, 

 however, is how the rake-your-own 

 market affects Midgett' s supply of 

 homegrown clams. He spawns and 

 raises between 2 million and 5 million 

 littleneck clams a year. But this 

 season, to meet new demands, he's 

 supplementing his clams with seed 

 from outside dealers. The clam seed is 

 raised to about thumbnail size in a 

 series of raceways and upwellers that 

 deliver algae (their food) in a flow of 

 water. At 8 to 15 millimeters long, 

 they're put out on the lease and 



surrounded with mesh to keep crabs 

 from eating them. They grow to market 

 size in about three years. 



Midgett says most people don't 

 realize the amount of time and effort it 

 takes to raise a bed of clams. In general, 

 they don't have a good appreciation for 

 aquaculture — the business of growing 

 and raising seafood. 



But a little marketing can go a long 

 way toward improving public percep- 

 tions, Murray says. By promoting 

 clamming as a recreational activity, 

 growers can educate people and cash in 

 on the booming tourism industry, now 

 the fastest growing segment of the 

 state's economy. It makes good 

 business sense for commercial fisher- 

 men to teach tourists how seafood 

 arrives at the dinner table, he says. 



In fact, this new twist on nature- 

 based tourism — merging fishing and 

 tourism businesses — is being pro- 

 moted by Partnership for the Sounds, 



which also received NCRI funding to 

 plan for sustainable economic devel- 

 opment in the Albemarle-Pamlico 

 region. Involving visitors in commer- 

 cial fishing is one way to expand 

 tourism, provide extra income for 

 watermen and educate people about 

 the importance of the fishery and the 

 estuary. 



The concept is similar to fee- 

 fishing in the North Carolina moun- 

 tains. These businesses blend fee- 

 fishing for rainbow trout with other 

 markets for farm-raised fish. They 

 offer a less expensive way of catching 

 fish, bring growers higher-than- 

 wholesale prices, increase fish sales to 

 customers and give novices a reason- 

 able chance of hooking a catch. 

 Likewise, in agriculture, pick-your- 

 own methods have provided a market 

 niche for farmers willing to diversify. 



In the shellfishing industry, large- 

 Continued on page 8 



6 MAY/JUNE 1996 



