Photo by Laurel Horton 



Setbacks aside, the Moores say 

 they're enjoying their experiment with 

 aquaculture. "It's something like 

 managing a little ecosystem," Allen 

 says, "You can see how all these things 

 fit together." 



Their two daughters have had the 

 benefit of a living lesson in biology, 

 right at home. "It's just such a fun en- 

 vironment to watch," Joyce says. 

 "Children love watching things grow." 



The Moores recommend ac- 

 quaculture as a hobby. And, while a 

 background in science is useful, they 

 say novices who study and design their 

 systems carefully can be successful. 



"We could have been a little more 

 scientific about things," Joyce says. 

 "Most of the time we've spent has 

 been on developing the system, and 

 we've spent virtually no time on it 

 otherwise." 



"Their advice to beginners is simple: 

 "Learn as much as you can before you 

 get started," Joyce says, and Allen 

 agrees. "You should put it all down on 

 paper first," he adds. "Plan 

 everything." 



— Neil Caudle Joyce Moore checking tilapia 



Clam gardening: an old idea with new potential 



Like most types of aquaculture, 

 clam farming began in the Orient. The 

 Japanese have been raising clams for 

 hundreds of years. Today, however, 

 the relative importance and sophistica- 

 tion of clam aquaculture in the United 

 States surpasses most other countries. 



Most of this culture has been prac- 

 ticed in New England and Long 

 Island, where it usually takes three to 

 seven years to grow a marketable 

 clam. But warmer waters and a longer 

 growing season in North Carolina 

 enable seed clams to reach market size 

 in as little as two years. For this 

 reason, commercial clam aquaculture 

 has attracted interest in the south- 

 eastern states. 



The hard clam (Mercenaria 

 mercenaria), sometimes called the 

 "quahog" lives along the East Coast of 

 the United States. Increasing prices 

 and decreasing harvest from natural 

 clam beds have stimulated an interest 

 in clam aquaculture in the coastal 

 states, including North Carolina. 

 Several relatively small-scale projects 



have been started to investigate the 

 feasibility of clam farming in our 

 waters. 



UNC Sea Grant has helped people 

 interested in clam gardening since 

 1973. In addition to providing infor- 

 mation and conducting trial seed- 

 plantings along the coast, methods for 

 excluding predators have also been 

 developed. 



To meet the demand for information 

 specifically on North Carolina clam 

 aquaculture. Sea Grant has published 

 Clam Gardening. Written by 

 Johnny Foster of the NCSU 

 Aquaculture Demonstration Project, 

 this publication offers specific informa- 

 tion on obtaining and raising seed 

 clams, leases and permits, location re- 

 quirements and management of the 

 garden. The appendix lists additional 

 references and material suppliers. 



If you are interested in clam 

 aquaculture and would like a copy of 

 this free publication, write Sea Grant, 

 Box 5001, Raleigh, N.C. 27650-5001. 

 Ask for publication UNC-SG-81-03. 



Clam Gardening 



/ / / 



Sea Grant's Clam Gardening 



