{"id":8555,"date":"2016-05-24T01:47:41","date_gmt":"2016-05-24T05:47:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shorebeat.com\/brick\/?p=8555"},"modified":"2016-05-24T01:59:36","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T05:59:36","slug":"traders-cove-will-soon-be-home-to-new-clam-nursery-interpretive-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/brick\/2016\/05\/traders-cove-will-soon-be-home-to-new-clam-nursery-interpretive-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Traders Cove Will Soon be Home to New Clam Nursery, Interpretive Center"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ReClam<\/a>

ReClam the Bay volunteers break ground at Traders Cove Marina in Brick. (Photo: ReClam the Bay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Shellfish serve as Barnegat Bay\u2019s natural housekeepers, filtering water as they grow, well, \u201chappy as a clam,\u201d as the saying goes.<\/p>\n

Soon, Brick\u2019s Traders Cove Marina will become home to thousands of baby clams waiting to be released into the wild, all while providing residents and visitors with a hands-on education about the health of the waterway and the role these important creatures play in the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

ReClam the Bay, a nonprofit group which has deposited millions of clams into the bay as part of a years-long effort\u00a0to restore the estuary\u2019s shellfish population, will soon launch an interpretive center and upweller at the municipal marina to both grow clams and serve as an educational tool.<\/p>\n

An upweller, group organizers say, is a device which keeps clam larvae and baby clams safe from predators while allowing them to have a supply of clean, salt water. Several upwellers are maintained by the group from Long Beach Island northward, and Brick\u2019s will play a central role in expanding ReClam the Bay\u2019s mission to Brick Township and the northern barrier island.<\/p>\n

In addition to baby clams, the nursery will have baby oyster and baby bay scallops.\u00a0The nursery will be available to the public all times that Traders Cove is open, and\u00a0ReClam The Bay Shellfish Gardeners will be available at the site on Wednesdays at 10 a.m.\u00a0each week starting mid-June until October, when the baby clams will be returned to the bay to grow even larger, at which point they\u2019ll be moved to secret, strategic sites in the open bay.\u00a0 <\/span>Visitors will be able to hold the clams, and learn from the members of ReClam The Bay why these tiny animals are so important to the bay\u2019s survival.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Volunteers<\/a>

Volunteers work at an existing upweller site. (Photo: ReClam the Bay)<\/p><\/div>\n

Ground has been broken on the project site, with work having begun Monday with volunteers starting to set up the upweller and educational exhibit. The project will be officially opened July 5 with a public ceremony, said volunteer organizer Charles Brandt, who added the Brick site will provide a place where people can learn about shellfish and even volunteer to help maintain the upwellers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSixty\u00a0gallons of bay water will be pumped into the nursery tank every minute and with it will come the phytoplankton that the clams and oysters will feed upon as they grow rapidly during the summer months,\u201d said Brandt.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the Brick site, the organization is planning to install another upweller at Island Beach State Park\u00a0at the site of the old Ship\u2019s Wheel Marina.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had, for several years, a nursery at the IBSP location, but it was destroyed during Sandy, and we finally have the infrastructure that will allow us to return,\u201d said Brandt.<\/p>\n

To see working upwellers, handle clams and learn about shellfish this summer:<\/strong><\/p>\n