Clam farms blossom in Southeast: these farms are good for the environment and good for the economy.

• Author: Colby, Nicole A. Bonham

Nearly eight years worth of effort is paying off for Alaska diver, farming geoducks in Southeast waters. This new aquaculture industry is in its infancy in Alaska, with 26 farms existing largely invisible within the seafloor from Juneau to Ketchikan

The geoduck is essentially a giant clam, growing to several pounds in size as an adult and with a lifespan of multiple decades in the wild. Geoducks enjoy a natural habitat from Oregon through Southeast Alaska and have been harvested commercially with limited entry permits in Alaska for some time. But not until now has the concept of geoduck farming succeeded both physically and bureaucratically.

Ketchikan-based commercial diver Kurtis Morin, generally considered the instigator of the effort with his partner farmers, estimates the existing 26 farms will eventually yield some 2.5 million pounds of clam flesh per year and provide 60 or so high-paying jobs to Alaska divers. Morin owns Ketchikan-based Alaska Shellfish and is partners in a subsidiary Alaska Shellfish Nursery LLC. A co-op exists between the farmers, with the business model de. signed that fanners would typically have L more than one farm site. This provides more opportunity to meet any product order, given the rhythms of natural PSP (Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning) occurrence, a naturally occurring and seasonal impact to coastal shellfish.

None of the existing farms have reached maturity yet. Of clams planted, the oldest stock is three years old. "We're getting close to getting our first generation out," Morin says. And, based on consistent sampling and testing, it appears the group's unique hatchery-nursery-farm model is proving successful, with greater growth rate and higher survival rates so far.

"We planned our business model around five-year grow-out, with a survival rate of 50 percent reaching two pounds. If we can do that, we'll be very successful," Morin says. "We're finding that they're bigger ... and that it might not take five years ... and they're going to be 2 to 2.5 pounds average," he says.

Morin recognizes that it's early yet for predictions, but so far the greatest challenge has not been in opportunity for success, but in finding enough money to keep buying stock. And there's also the issue of ensuring the hatchery (a Native-owned facility in Seward) will keep up with demand.

Morin and his fellow geoduck farmers have planted some 70,000 clams so far this year, with nearly that amount in previous years.

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