HSRL Staff

With the surfclam industry facing an uncertain future amid all these threats, shellfish researchers at Rutgers and elsewhere are working to find solutions that may help both the clams and the fishers adapt.

Using Rutgers University brood stock, the hatchery was able to have eight spawns this year, and is on its way to success in benefitting local aquaculturists in the state of Delaware.

Shellfishermen and scientists have spent years battling a disease that nearly wiped out the native oyster population. At last, there are signs of a possible way forward.

One East Coast collaboration, the  Regional Shellfish Seed Biosecurity Program , is attempting to make interstate business easier for hatcheries and growers. “In a nutshell, we want to have a hatchery’s health record for three years, and see a clean bill of health for three years, before the hatchery becomes certified,” explains Lucia Safi, a postdoctoral researcher associated with Rutgers University and the Regional Shellfish Seed Biosecurity Program. “The hatchery will make an application for each product that they want to have certified. We do all this research and certified best management practices to minimize disease. In the long run, this will save a lot of time and money.”

In some parts of the East Coast, specially constructed blocks of concrete that mimic the surface area of an oyster reef are used for oyster settlement along the shoreline. This concrete must be designed to break down, however. Asking concrete manufacturers to make a product designed to break down may seem counterintuitive, explains Dave Bushek, director of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at Rutgers University.