Nursery
The nursery serves as an intermediate step
in the clam development process and provides the small seed
produced in the hatchery with an adequate food supply and
protection from predators.
When the clams are about 6 weeks old, they measure about the
size of the head of a pin.
This is when they are transferred to our nursery and begin to eat the wild phytoplankton from the Gulf of Mexico.
They are transferred to our nursery floating dock system
that consists of upweller tanks that deliver large volumes
of water to the clams.
Nursery clams are washed and sieved daily as they grow.
Our nursery clams take approximately three months to
reach 4 to 6 mm in size, about the size of an aspirin
tablet. Now they can be taken out to our clam leases and planted.
The field work can now begin.