GIRDLETREE -- Under the briny waters of this rural Worcester County hamlet, Maryland's fledgling aquaculture industry is getting its sea legs.
Here, along the sandy bottom of Chincoteague Bay just south of Ocean City, Steve and Christy Gordon have planted millions of clams on beds leased from the state. The couple hope to take a piece of an industry that, in neighboring Virginia, produced close to $30 million for clam farmers during the past year alone.
The Gordons' plan to eventually grow and sell enough clams to become a significant supplier to East Coast businesses might seem like a pipe dream in a place where the waters are known more for rampant pollution and shellfish diseases.
But many scientists think that entrepreneurs such as the Gordons are the best hope to bring filter-feeding shellfish back into Maryland waters and revive a seafood industry that has long relied on public subsidies.
For the first time, Maryland is encouraging people like the Gordons to lease a piece of state-owned bottom and grow their own clams and oysters. The General Assembly passed a law last year to streamline the bureaucratic process of applying for lease-bottom permits, and scientists at the University of Maryland are offering their expertise to growers.
State officials believe that a successful aquaculture industry would create jobs, return clams and oysters to Maryland waters and help filter away pollution in the process. The new Maryland Aquaculture Coordinating Council is charged with recommending how the state can help such businesses succeed.
"We've got to find a good way to get more shellfish in the bays," said Don Webster, a University of Maryland agricultural specialist and chairman of the council. "In Maryland, we have always relied on taxpayer dollars to do it, but that's kind of fickle."
The state effort is running into opposition from some waterfront landowners, who don't want clam farms obstructing the shoreline, and from some watermen, who fear the farms would make it even harder for them to earn a living from the sea.
But Steve Gordon is convinced of aquaculture's potential. On a recent stormy day, the 48-year-old Perry Hall native waded out to his leased bed and raked up a handful of clams that were seeds just a few months ago.
"I can assure you it's going to work. It's already working," Gordon said.
