How these tiny clams are helping restore water quality
Martin County is working on a project to spawn clams, aimed at aiding seagrass growth in the St. Lucie Estuary.
“There are these Lucinid clams, which are very small clams, that live in the soil and have bacteria that aid in digesting sulfides,” John Maehl, Martin County’s environmental resource administrator, said.
Maehl said those sulfides are toxic, which is why the county enlisted an aquaculturist to breed the clams.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re actually producing new clams now,” Maehl said. “We’re excited to have those incorporated into new seagrass plantings that will help make those seagrass plantings more successful.”
Water releases from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Estuary resumed over a month ago.
Mark Perry of the Florida Oceanographic Society stated that these discharges have devastated the seagrass beds.
