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RECLAMMING THE BAY A multimedia story by Julia Anne Favaro

Clarence the Clam

Meet Clarence the Clam. Clarence is a hard shell clam also known as Mercenia mercenia. He resides in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey where he works to clean and protect the water. Clarence plays an important role in his ecosystem and is hard at work everyday. He doesn't work alone though. Clarence works alongside many other mollusks to help keep these waters clean. There weren't always this many clams in Barnegat Bay, so where did Clarence and his friends come from?

Hard Shell Clam (Courtesy of ReClam the Bay)

Image from ReClam the Bay

ReClam the Bay

Clarence and most of the mollusks in Barnegat Bay were raised and released by ReClam the Bay

Clarence's Childhood

Clarence entered this world as a little seed clam from a local hatchery in South Jersey.

Bag of 100,000 seed clams (Courtesy of ReClam the Bay)

Barnegat Bay (background) (Julia Favaro)

Clarence grew up in a nursery called an upweller. An above ground upweller consists of an upweller tank that holds silos and bay water in-feed and out-feed pipes. The silos are barrel-like structures with an open top and plastic mesh lined bottom. This is where Clarence first grew with hundreds of other seed clams. The mesh lined bottom allows water from the bay water in-feed pipe to submerge the clam seeds at the bottom of the silo. This pipe draws water from the bay into the tank to provide the seed clams with nutrients and oxygen. The out-feed pipe returns this water back into the bay.

Seed clams in a silo (above) Upweller (right) (Courtesy of ReClam the Bay)

ReClam the Bay monitors these baby clams by counting them, testing water salinity, and tracking water temperature. Clarence and his fellow baby clams lived in this nursery over the summer months until they were transferred to the bay. After summer, they were placed under screens on the bay floor to protect them while they continued to grow. ReClam the Bay makes and assembles these nets for the clams. During his time under the net, Clarence was accompanied by about 30,000 other growing clams.

After a year, ReClam the Bay pulled up the screen and removed Clarence and his friends using rakes. The clams were then placed into pans to be counted, measured, and sorted by size. ReClam the Bay cleans and rolls the screens after use.

Volunteers putting down a net (left) Volunteers raking up clams (right) (Courtesy of ReClam the Bay)

Barnagat Bay (background) (taken by Julia Favaro)

Next, ReClam the Bay spreads out the clam seeds into the bay! Clarence was carefully tossed into Barnegat Bay along with other clams to continue to grow and thrive on their own

ReClam the Bay volunteers spreading the clams into Barnegat Bay (left and right) ( Courtesy of ReClam the Bay) Background image of Barnagat Bay (Julia Favaro)

Bay Health Indicators and Concerns

Why was Clarence the Clam introduced to the waters of Barnegat Bay and its neighboring estuaries? In the early 2000's, it became apparent that Barnegat Bay was in poor health due to eutrophication and declining shellfish populations. At the time, Barnegat Bay was also facing submerged aquatic vegetation, loss of shellfish beds, beach closures, low freshwater input, and increased land development. Gef Flimlin, founder of ReClam the Bay, saw this decline in shellfish alongside bay health and wanted to repopulate local shellfish. Bill Wash, President of ReClam the Bay, recalls, "Gef's response as the fable goes, if you want to reclaim the bay, you need to reclam the bay." Although shellfish alone couldn't resolve all of these issues, their filtration skills were able to improve water clarity and decrease eutrophication.

Eutrophication occurs when there’s an increase in nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen. These nutrients enter the bay through land runoff, often coming from fertilizers and pollution. These excess nutrients cause algae to rapidly grow, producing algal blooms. Algal blooms develop on the water’s surface and suffocate other organisms by preventing light penetration and oxygen absorption. High amounts of algal blooms were plaguing the waters of Barnegat Bay, showing up consistently in annual bay reports.

Water plauge with eutrophication. (Tom Piotrowski/ Pexels)

How Does Clarence Help the Bay?

Clarence helps Barnegat Bay by acting as a water filter. Clams are filter feeders, meaning that they naturally filter the water when they ingest the organisms and particles contained in the water. But how exactly do they filter the water? Water is drawn in through the clam’s incurrent siphon, a tube like opening that specifically brings water into the clam’s body. The particles in the water are trapped by the gills and moved to the mouth to be ingested. What’s left is clean water that is expelled from the clam’s excurrent siphon. By cleaning the bay water, the clams improve their habitat and potential for their population to grow and thrive.

"Our long term goal could be to put ourselves out of business, meaning that the shellfish population gets back to sustainable levels by nature as opposed to human intervention" Bill Walsh, President of ReClam the Bay.

Barnegat Bay (background) (Julia Favaro)

Nitrogen Feeders

This process removes excess nutrients from the water that contribute to algal blooms and eutrophication. Nitrogen is one of the main contributors that clams filter from the water. Clams feed on phytoplankton that use inorganic dissolved nitrogen to grow. The nitrogen is transferred from the phytoplankton to the clam and used for their tissues and shell. When the clams are harvested, the nitrogen is removed from the water.

Through filter feeding, clams also reduce the amount of sediment in the water. This lowers the water’s turbidity, or the level of particles suspended in the water. Clearer water allows for more sunlight to reach aquatic plants that are vital for bay ecosystems and habitats and in turn produces more oxygen as well.

Barnegat Bay (Julia Favaro)

Why Clarence Loves Protecting the Bay

Barnegat Bay is not only Clarence’s home, it’s a vital part of the local community. For coastal communities, the water is more than just a place to swim. It plays a role in local identity through the seafood market, water recreation, and pride for the coastal environment. Members of the community assist Clarence in protecting the bay they call home. This care for the bay is what produced Reclam the Bay, which has made an incredible impact on Barnegat Bay through clams like Clarence. Since their start in 2005, ReClam the Bay has formed a strong community that is connected through their drive to protect the bay.

Various sights around Barnegat Bay (Julia Favaro)
"Since we've started up until the end of last year, we've put over 30 million clams, oysters, and oysters spat on shells back into the bay." - Bill Walsh

References

Baker, S., Grogan, K., Larkin, S., Sturmer, L., Spadaro, A., & Avila, J. (2015). "Green" Clams: Estimating the Value of Environmental Benefits (Ecosystem Services) Generated by the Hard Clam Aquaculture Industry in Florida. Retrieved from Florida Shellfish Aquaculture: https://shellfish.ifas.ufl.edu/environmental-benefits/#:~:text=Clams%20Clean%20the%20Water%20by%20Filter%20Feeding&text=Suspended%20particles%20in%20the%20water,)%2C%20microorganisms%2C%20and%20detritus.

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, September 30). eutrophication. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/eutrophication

Mission. (n.d.). Retrieved from Reclam the Bay: https://reclamthebay.org/our-work/

Lanthrop, R., Kennish, M., Bologna, P., Curtis, M., Ingenito, R., Downes Gastrich, M., & Nicholson, R. (2005). 2005 State of the Bay Technical Report. Barnegat Bay Partnership.

Barnegat Bay (taken by Julia Favaro)

Created By
Julia Favaro