Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration to Help Restore Important Waterway
Whitney Laboratory along with partners are working to restore clam populations in the Indian River Lagoon. Your support of this project will help bring clams to the IRL with the goal of improving water quality and restoring healthy seagrasses to this important estuary in need of our help.
Areas to Support
Adult Clam Repatriation Project |
Gifts can be made to the Whitney Laboratory Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Fund. | MAKE A GIFT |
Drone Clam Seeding (The Billion Clam Project) |
Gifts should be made to Coastal Conservation Florida (CCA Florida). |
The Whitney Laboratory secured $2.2 million in funding for clam restoration in 2022 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and Indian River Lagoon (IRL) National Estuaries Program to restore super clams to the IRL until summer of 2025.
Dr. Todd Osborne and his lab are working with project partner Premium Seafood (Mike Sullivan) to produce the 15 million clams needed for this restoration project. These efforts employ five staff members in the Osborne Lab and is a tremendous undertaking that now involves two additional Ph.D. students. These students study the processes of population enhancement and ecosystem services provided by growing clam populations in the IRL.
Seagrass restoration has been coupled with this project so that “co-restoration” efforts can hasten ecosystem recovery. Project partner Dr. Lorae Simpson (Whitney Lab alumni) serves as the Research Director for Florida Oceanographic Society, which houses a seagrass nursery in Stuart, Florida. Dr. Conor MacDonnell, a post-doc in the Osborne Lab is stationed onsite there, bridging the programs and conducting research on clam and seagrass interactions.
2022
The Whitney Laboratory secured $2.2 million in funding for clam restoration in 2022 from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) and Indian River Lagoon (IRL) National Estuaries Program to restore super clams to the IRL over the next 24 months. Dr. Todd Osborne and his lab are working with project partner Premium Seafood (Mike Sullivan) to produce the 15 million clams needed for this restoration project. These efforts employ five staff members in the Osborne Lab and is a tremendous undertaking that now involves two additional Ph.D. students. These students study the processes of population enhancement and ecosystem services provided by growing clam populations in the IRL.
- 40 million larvae were released into the Matanzas River in 2022 with support from the South Anastasia Communities Association (SACA).
- Whitney Laboratory joined with Star Brite Solutions, Coastal Conservation Association Florida, and the IRL Clam Restoration Project to plant 100,000 clams, along with dozens of red mangroves, in the Indian River Lagoon on Earth Day.
2021
The Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration initiative entered its third year in 2021. In 2019, adult Mercenaria mercenaria clams were collected from Mosquito Lagoon and spawned. These “superclams” survived the brown tide and hypoxic event of 2012 and subsequent bloom events prompting Dr. Todd Osborne to believe these clams are genetically stronger and would produce progeny capable of survival in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL).
A total of 2.5 million clams were raised and repatriated to aquaculture lease locations in the IRL in the first year. During the pandemic, the project was able to maintain productivity with the strong collaborations between Blair Wiggins Outdoors, Premium Seafood Inc, St. Johns River Water Management District, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, The Coastal Conservation Association, Star Brite and the IRL Council. Project partners and Whitney researchers distributed more than 11 million clams at the close of 2021. Dr. Todd Osborne and Mr. Jose Nunez have secured funding from the IRL Council, FL DEP and private donor sources for 14 Mil additional clams from 2022-2024.
A significant portion of our current work is in collaboration with the Brevard Zoo in developing a new clam gardener program that has established 100 clam grow out sites within Brevard County that are being monitored by citizen scientists. This program will mirror the oyster gardener program in its punctuality and will allow Whitney researchers to gather spatially explicit information about clam populations in the IRL. Monitoring of water quality and natural recruitment will continue for the duration of this project.
2020
The Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration initiative entered its second year in 2020. In 2019, clams were collected from Mosquito Lagoon and spawned. A total of 2.5 million clams were raised and repatriated to aquaculture lease locations in the Indian River Lagoon. During the pandemic, the project was able to maintain productivity with the strong collaborations between the SJRMD, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, The Coastal Conservation Association, Addictive Fishing Television, Premium Seafood Inc. and the IRL Council.
Project partners assisted Whitney researchers in distributing an additional 1.6 million clams with a target of 6.4 million more clams planted by the end of 2021. Dr. Todd Osborne and Mr. Jose Nunez have secured funding from the IRL Council, FL DEP and private donor sources. A significant portion of future work is in collaboration with the Brevard Zoo in developing a new clam gardener program that will establish 100 clam grow out sites within Brevard County that will be monitored by citizen scientists. This program will mirror the oyster gardener program in its punctuality and will allow Whitney researchers to gather spatially explicit information about clam populations in the IRL. Monitoring of water quality and natural recruitment will continue for the duration of this project.
2019
Adult Mercenaria mercenaria clams (6-8 years old) were collected from Mosquito Lagoon in March 2019. These “superclams” survived the brown tide and hypoxic event of 2012 and subsequent bloom events. At the Whitney Laboratory bivalve hatchery, these clams were spawned and then raised in land-based and field-based nurseries. After approximately nine months, nursery-raised clams were repatriated to selected aquaculture lease locations in the Mosquito Lagoon and in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) proper.
Of the 3-4 million clams that were reared during the first year of the project in 2019, 400,000 were moved to Mosquito Lagoon in December of 2019 and the rest will be out-planted to additional sites throughout the IRL by the spring of 2020. By then, the clams will be one year old and will be ready to begin spawning in the wild, jump starting their natural recruitment in this important estuary. Monitoring of water quality and natural recruitment will continue throughout the duration of this project.
IRL Clam Restoration Videos
Clam Update May 2024
Another Clam update, things are moving along. We're up to 40 Million Clams back in the river, and Blair & Todd are here to fill you in on the details.
Project Update Blair Wiggins
Capt Blair Wiggins gives us a water conservation update on the progress of the Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Project with Whitney Labs, University of Florida, CCA Florida and FWC.
Dr. Todd Osborne Ph.D.
Dr. Todd Osborne Ph.D. is an assistant professor of biogeochemistry at the Whitney Lab at the University of Florida. He is responsible for collecting, studying, spawning and releasing clams in the IRL Clam Restoration Project.
First Generation is Born
Capt Blair Wiggins shows us the different stages of growth of the first generation of clams for the IRL Clam Restoration Project.
Brood Stock Super Clams
Capt Blair Wiggins travels to the Whitney to introduce us the clam caretaker, Jose Nunez. His job is to collect the brood stock from the IRL, spawn them and create the next generation of super clams to help clean up the water quality of the IRL.
IRL Clam Restoration Project
Florida native and Addictive Fishing TV host, Capt Blair Wiggins, tells about his experiences growing up on Florida's Space Coast and making a living on the Indian River as a charter captain. What he saw over the years is heartbreaking.
Hard Clam Restoration
This video describes the ongoing hard clam restoration initiative in the Indian River Lagoon. The goal is to restore clam populations and improve water quality in this estuary.
How Clams Filter Feed
This short time lapse shows how hard clams burrow, filter-feed and clear up the water.
Support Clam Restoration
We are accepting donations to continue this important initiative. For more information about the Indian River Lagoon Clam Restoration Initiative, contact Dr. Todd Osborne at osbornet@ufl.edu.