Cleansing Waters with Clams

FOR THE FIRST 50 YEARS OF THE 20TH CENTURY CLAM HARVESTING WAS BIG BUSINESS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. THIS LED TO A SEVERE DECLINE IN THE WILD CLAM POPULATION IN THE REGION. BUT NOW FGCU RESEARCHERS AT THE WATER SCHOOL ARE TAKING PART IN AN EXPERIMENT TO TRY TO RESTORE THE CLAM POPULATION AS WELL AS SEAGRASS ECOSYSTEMS. IT'S ALL PART OF A STATEWIDE INITIATIVE. >> WITH MORE, I'M NOW JOINED BY DOCTOR JAMES DOUGLAS, A PROFESSOR OF MARINE AND EARTH SCIENCES AT FGCU WATER SCHOOL. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN STUDIO TODAY. HAPPY TO BE HERE. CAN YOU FIRST HELP US UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF CLAMS AND SEAGRASS IN OUR WATERWAYS OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. >> ABSOLUTELY. BOTH CLAIMS IN SEAGRASS A REALLY IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE ECOSYSTEM HERE. AND I STUDIED SEGREST FOR YEARS. SO I ALWAYS TELL PEOPLE THAT SEAGRASS ESSENTIAL FOOD FOR MANATEES AND SEA TURTLES. AND IT'S AN ESSENTIAL HABITAT FOR SMALL FISHES. THE LEAD UP THE FOOD CHAIN TO THE BIG FISH THAT PEOPLE LIKE TO CATCH AND CLAMS ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT. THEY FILTER THE WATER AND THEY'RE ALSO IMPORTANT IN THE FOOD CHAIN THAT LEADS UP TO A VALUABLE SPECIES. >> AND BOTH OF THOSE SPECIES ARE ON THE DECLINE. THEIR HEALTH. >> UNFORTUNATELY, YES, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. SEAGRASS IS VERY SENSITIVE TO POLLUTION. AND AS THE POPULATION OF PEOPLE AS GROWN HERE, WATER QUALITIES DECLINED. AND WE'VE SEEN OUR SEAGRASS BEDS TO CLIMB. BUT THE CLAMS, THE MAIN REASON THE CLAIMS ARE NOT WHAT THEY USED TO BE IS BECAUSE THEY'RE DELICIOUS. AND HISTORICALLY THEY'VE BEEN THEY WERE OVER HARVESTED. IN FACT, MARCO ISLAND WAS THE CENTER OF THAT CLAM HARVESTING BUSINESS IN SOUTHWEST FLORIDA. AND THEY REALLY EFFECTIVELY HARVESTED ALMOST ALL THE CLAMS FROM ABOUT 1900 TO 1945. AND THE CLAIMS STILL HAVEN'T QUITE RECOVERED. >> NOW YOU YOU ARE LEADING A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS, STUDENT AND ALUMNI FGCU WATER SCHOOL RESEARCHERS TO TRY TO EXPERIMENT OUT IN OUR WATERS TOO DETERMINED IF BOTH SPECIES CAN BE RESTORED. AND AS PART OF A STATEWIDE INITIATIVE, CAN YOU TELL US HOW THIS EXPERIMENT IS WORKING? >> WELL, THIS PROGRAM, THIS IDEA OF COMBINING EFFORTS TO RESTORE CLAMS AND RESTORE SEAGRASS IS IS PART OF A FLORIDA SEA GRANT PROGRAM. AND SO THE FLORIDA SEA GRANT HAS THAT FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING COMBINED. THERE'S CENTERED UP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA AND SO THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN FACULTY AND STAFF MEMBERS KIND OF GOT TOGETHER TO ORGANIZE THIS BIG PROJECT, BRINGING IN SCIENTISTS FROM ANY INSTITUTIONS AROUND THE STATE TO DO A SERIES OF SEAGRASS AND CLAM RESTORATION EXPERIMENTS. AND SO WE GOT RECRUITED TO BE PART OF THIS. WE IS MYSELF AND MY COLLEAGUE DR MELISSA MAYS. SO WE'RE EQUAL PARTNERS ON THIS CLAM SEAGRASS PROJECTS THAT WE'RE DOING AT FGCU. >> AND I SAW THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN. I THINK IT WAS 1500 CLAMS AND YOU'VE USE NAIL POLISH TO MARK THEM AND YOU PLACE THEM IN PLOTS. CAN YOU TELL US HOW HOW THIS WORKS? WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH IT? >> AND WILL WE WANT TO SEE IF THE CLAMS WILL SURVIVE BETTER WHEN WE PUT BABY CLAMS INTO SEAGRASS BEDS RATHER THAN PUTTING THEM JUST IN AN VEGETATED SAID EVENTS. WE THINK THAT THE SEAGRASS MIGHT HELP THE CLAMS BY HIDING THEM FROM PREDATORS, HELPING THEM STAY BURIED. AND THEN WE ALSO THINK THAT THE U.S. CLAMS COULD HELP THE SEAGRASS, BUT WE NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF THE CLAIMS THAT WE PUT OUT THERE BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO A FEW CLAMS THAT ARE THERE ALREADY. AND SO WE'RE MARKING THEM WITH NAIL POLISH, WHICH STAYS ON THE CLANS UNDER WATER. WE ALSO RIGHT NUMBERS ON THEM WITH A MAGIC MARKER SO WE CAN FIND OUT EXACTLY WHICH PLAN THAT WAS WHEN 6 MONTHS LATER WHEN THE EXPERIMENTS DONE. >> SO HOW WILL THESE 2 SITES OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA HELP IN THE STATEWIDE INITIATIVE? I UNDERSTAND THERE'S I THINK 10 DIFFERENT SITES AROUND THE STATE OF FLORIDA, RIGHT? THIS IS WHAT THEY CALL A COORDINATED NETWORK EXPERIMENT. >> WHICH IS THIS KIND OF NEW TREND IN SCIENCE WHERE INSTEAD OF JUST DOING AN EXPERIMENT IN ONE PLACE, WHICH HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE CONDITIONS, UNCORKS, YOU DO THE SAME EXPERIMENT IN MANY DIFFERENT PLACES WHERE THE ENVIRONMENT VARIES WHERE THERE MIGHT BE DIFFERENCES AND WATER QUALITY DIFFERENCES IN THE AMOUNT OF PREDATORS AROUND DIFFERENCES IN OTHER STRESSES OR DISTURBANCE IN THOSE AREAS BECAUSE THE SAME TYPE OF ACTIVITY ADDING CLAMS TO SEAGRASS MIGHT WORK BETTER IN SOME PLACES THAN OTHERS. AND BY DOING THIS ALL AROUND THE STATE, WE'LL GET A BETTER IDEA OF WHERE THIS A GOOD CHANCE OF SUCCESS FOR THIS AND WHERE WE MIGHT NEED TO RETHINK OUR APPROACH. >> SO ULTIMATELY YOU ARE HOPING TO SEE THAT THIS RESTORATION PROJECT IS MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL TO BOTH SPECIES. >> YES, WE'RE HOPING THAT WE CAN SAVE MOST SPECIES WITH SOME OF THE COMBINED EFFORTS HERE OR AT LEAST LEARN SOMETHING THAT HELPS US DESIGN THE NEXT PHASE OF RESTORATION