Tag: Florida
A young clam farmer who “dabbles in oysters” is finding Florida aquaculture a challenging field with a host of potential minefields, especially Red Tide. For the past six years Carter Davis has farmed 16-acres in the waters off of Pine Island in Tampa Bay. Just when he thought he was getting the hang of it, Red Tide almost put his operation out of business.
Founded by settlers from North Carolina in the 1880’s, Cortez is one of the last historic Gulf waterfronts with a working commercial fishing village. A short walk from the Florida fishing fleet waiting to unload Gulf seafood is the Florida Maritime Museum, home to interpretive exhibits as well as an educational program studying the Florida waters.
An ambitious project to build a sustainable seafood industry with international distribution in the Sarasota-Manatee region while reviving a heritage fishing community and adding new jobs through a value-added processing plant has landed the top award in the first Gulf Coast Innovation Challenge.
The methods of the Apalachicola Bay oyster industry have been relatively unchanged for nearly two centuries. Oystermen still pick oysters with tongs, rather than with damaging dragnet.
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