>>Major funding for this
program was provided

by the Batchelor Foundation.

Encouraging people
to preserve and protect

America's underwater resources.

>>NARRATOR: The oceans were
once an abundant resource,

holding what seemed to be
a limitless supply of seafood.

But today, roughly 80%
of major marine fish stocks

are either depleted
or overfished.

>>The worldwide seafood
landings of wild-caught seafood

essentially maxed out in 1990.

So at a time when doctors
are recommending we eat

more seafood, it's imperative
that we come up with other ways

to supply that seafood
than going after

the remaining fish in the sea.

>>NARRATOR: One solution
is to farm fish and crustaceans.

>>Aquaculture is farming
the sea, just as agriculture

is farming on land.

>>NARRATOR:
But just like agriculture,

aquaculture can come at a cost.

>>The issue now is,
can we farm it in a wa

that does not cause much harm
for the marine environment?

>>NARRATOR: Is aquaculture
the way of the future?

Can it help meet the
ever-growing demand for seafood

in a sustainable way?

♪♪

>>NARRATOR: The farming of fish
and crustaceans

is not a new concept.

>>Aquaculture right now
is supplying 35% to 40%

of the seafood that we eat.

>>NARRATOR: But the majority
of that seafood doesn't come

from U.S. waters.

>>Our second largest natural
resource trade deficit

is seafood, second only to oil,

and that's just a staggering
statistic.

>>Right now, over 80%
of the seafood that we eat

in this country is imported,
and so that seafood

is either being caught
or produced in other countries.

We know that the inspection
process for imported seafood

is very limited.

And we know that there
are contaminants

that are coming in
with that seafood.

>>NARRATOR: Foreign aquaculture
operations in Asia

and South America have been
criticized for using

large amounts of antibiotics
and other drugs,

creating a potential health risk
for the consumer.

Others have caused
environmental problems.

>>Basically, large areas
of mangrove forests

along coastal waters have been
bulldozed to make wa

for shrimp farms and fish farms.

And so you have a choice: you
can either have more aquaculture

under strict regulations
in this country,

or we can continue to buy
seafood from other countries,

which have a lot
less regulations and we know

are causing a lot more
pollution.

>>NARRATOR: There are many
different types of aquaculture,

and much is being done
in the United States

to make the farming of seafood
more environmentally friendly.

In Cedar Key, a small town
in Florida's Big Bend area,

clam farming is big business.

>>Allowing our fishermen
to become clam farmers

has allowed us to continue
as a working waterfront.

>>NARRATOR: The industry
got started in 1994,

after the Florida Net Ban
put many local fishermen

out of business.

>>The infrastructure
for this new industry came about

through federally funded
job retraining programs,

placing about 200 fishermen
into the clam farming business.

You don't require expensive
waterfront property.

You're leasing coastal submerged
lands from the state of Florida

at a fairly nominal fee.

>>NARRATOR:
Cedar Key is a perfect location

for clam farming.

The town's rural character
and the lack of development

have kept the local waters
of the Gulf of Mexico

pollution-free,
yet rich enough in nutrients

that the filter-feeding clams
need to survive.

>>There's no such thing
as clam chow.

In other words, Mother Nature
is providing the food

for your crop.

And if you don't have
adequate nutrients

and phytoplankton in the water,
you're going to have

limited growth and production.

>>NARRATOR: Farming clams
from start to finish

is a labor-intensive job,

which begins at one
of the local hatcheries.

>>You're looking at hard clams,

scientific name
Mercenaria mercenaria,

and these are our brood stock
clams that we use to spawn

and hatch out new baby clams.

The brood stock came

from actually a New England
wild clam.

Each clam is capable
of producing

about two million eggs.

In the wild maybe only one
or two of those eggs

would become fertilized because
nature's natural selection

would eliminate most of those.

In here, we create
the ideal conditions

for most of the eggs
to become fertilized.

So we could get as much
as ten or 20 million

fertilized baby clams
in just one spawn.

>>This is the very act
of domestication.

We're maximizing
nature's potential.

>>NARRATOR: The farmers at
hatcheries like Southern Cross

recreate the natural conditions
clams need to spawn.

After each spawning event,
the fertilized eggs are moved

into larvae tanks.

>>There is approximately
11 million baby clam larvae

in that tank as we speak.

And they're about
40 times smaller

than the naked eye can see.

And they'll sit in there
five days to a week,

and they're swimming around
as clam larvae.

And after about a week or so,
they'll actually develop

a shell and a foot.

And it's much like a caterpillar
in a cocoon

becoming a butterfly.

It goes through a metamorphosis,
a very critical stage

in their life.

And once they do that,
they'll sink to the bottom

of the water column.

They are now a hard clam.

Clams eat algae,
and we grow algae for the clams.

They're filter feeders.

And when they're this small,
we feed them a specific type

of algae that is easier
for them to eat.

They go through hundreds
of gallons of algae a day.

And in order to keep up
with their voracious appetite,

we have to grow algae every day.

These are approximately
one month old.

And they're one millimeter
in size.

There's approximately 250,000
clams in this one silo alone.

>>Once the clams reach
a certain size,

they are ready to be moved

to silos on a floating dock
outside.

>>After they get out
of the hatchery,

this is the first time
they're introduced

to our wild natural algae.

The water's pumped right out
of the Gulf here,

so they'll switch over
from the food that we've made

in there to this food,

and we don't have to feed them
anymore.

>>NARRATOR: The clams will stay
at the floating dock

for several more weeks,
until they reach

roughly the size
of an aspirin tablet.

>>The clams are sieved.

The small stuff
will fall through,

the big stuff will come down
here.

The big stuff we'll take out
to the leases tomorrow.

So they'll be planted out
in the wild.

This is the final step
in the whole nurser

part of the equation.

>>NARRATOR:
Once they've reached this size,

the clams are put into bags
and sold to farmers,

who will plant them
on their leased plots

in the Gulf of Mexico.

>>There's about 750 acres
of state-owned submerged lands

that are dedicated to shellfish
aquaculture leases

just here in Cedar Key.

>>NARRATOR: One of the farmers
is Bobby Whitt,

who buys the little clams
from a hatcher

and then plants them
on his lease.

Bobby, who leases seven acres
from the state,

has been in the
clamming business for 14 years.

The warm temperatures
of the Gulf make the clams

grow faster than they would
in New England,

and it allows the farmers
to plant and harvest year-round.

Bobby says it takes
roughly two years for the clams

to grow into
a marketable product.

>>It's typical farming,
just like farming on land.

I try to rotate my planting,
so I've got something to harvest

all the time,
which isn't always easy to do.

>>NARRATOR: Once the bags
are planted on the bottom,

Mother Nature takes care
of the rest.

>>We tout ourselves
as a very green industry,

and that's because we do not
have the use of feeds,

fertilizers to stimulate
any kind of growth,

antibiotics, pesticides,
herbicides.

In fact, these would be
detrimental

to our shellfish crop.

>>This is our product before
we take them to the dock.

He's about the first marketable
size.

They use them for all sorts of
clams over pasta and whatnot

as a pasta clam.

But our optimum size
is more the one-inch clam,

that's what we're after--

the inch to the inch
and an eighth roughly.

These are more your...
your primary marketable clams

would be these, once again
because they bring the money.

>>NARRATOR: Once his clams
have grown to market size,

Bobby can harvest them on demand
and take them back to the dock.

>>They'll get rewashed
and tumbled.

Then I'll sort them again
as they come out of the tumbler

and then I'll look at them
one more time before I sell them

to the wholesaler.

>>In the early years
of the industry,

it took some convincing
of the local fishermen

to get into the business.

>>I was a net fisherman
and after they banned the nets,

I was retrained
as a clam farmer.

I didn't have a whole bunch
of faith that it would work.

>>I was a little more positive.

Most people were more skeptical.

I did like the idea of staying
working on the water

because the alternative

was to get a job on the hill,
of course.

So I pursued it because
it looked like an opportunity.

>>It definitely works.

Cedar Key is great for it.

It's helped it to retain
some of its fishing heritage,

and there's no doubt that it's
a viable way to make a living.

>>The first-ever
USDA aquaculture census

conducted in 1998 showed

that Florida was one
of the leading producers

of farm-raised hard clams
by volume.

And we know from our state
surveys that Cedar Ke

is one of the dominant
production areas.

Florida produces about
190 million clams.

I think that was based
on a 2007 survey,

and it does fluctuate
from year to year.

That equates to something
like $19 million, dockside.

But that's not all of the story.

We have the hatcheries
that produce the seed.

We have seamstresses
that make the clam bags,

boat builders that specialize
in clam work skiffs,

and wholesalers that distribute
statewide and nationwide.

So the economic footprint
is obviously much larger

than the dockside value.

Florida was estimated at
something close to $50 million,

very important.

>>And I'm trying to get them
washed up real good.

>>NARRATOR: Clamming provides
a source of revenue to Cedar Ke

and other communities
around the state,

and it does so without

much of a negative
environmental impact.

>>Most of the jobs are out here
on the water,

so the local government
and the county government

is very interested in keeping
the water clean and natural

and normal here to support
this industry.

>>Clam farming is a dramatic
success story,

but it's built upon one species.

And so, we're basically
a monoculture industry.

So we are starting to look at
what other alternative species

could be cultured alongside
the hard clam

and offer an alternative
marketing opportunity.

>>NARRATOR: The northern hard
clam culture techniques used

in Florida were originally
developed by scientists

at Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute

in Ft. Pierce,
on Florida's east coast.

Experts there are now looking
at other clam species,

which could be
commercially harvested.

>>The species that
we're examining right now

is the Sunray Venus clam,
Macrocallista nimbosa.

This clam is a local species
and it was commercially fished

years ago in Florida.

We're in the research phase
still.

The first couple of years were
spent learning how to breed it.

We've now moved on to growing it
in the field

and we have market-sized clams.

These clams have been actually
tested in restaurants,

and the response back
has been very good.

So the next part actually
is to do the research

in the wholesale
distribution level.

>>NARRATOR:
Experts at Harbor Branch's

Aquaculture Development Park

are perfecting techniques
for raising everything

from conch to tropical fish.

In a study done in conjunction

with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture

Agricultural Research Service,

scientists are studying ways
to make the raising of pompano

for food consumption
more economically viable.

While freshwater fish
aquaculture has been around

for a while, only a few
marine fish have been raised

commercially
in the United States.

>>Marine fish,
in general, is probabl

the most up-and-coming area
of aquaculture.

>>NARRATOR: One of the things
that make it more difficult

to raise marine fish from an egg
is that in their early stages,

the larvae require live feeds
which need to be grown.

>>These are pompano larvae
that are hatching right now.

Starting at day two through
approximately day 17 or so

until they're metamorphosed

and change into a juvenile fish
requires live feeds.

So you have to culture
the live feeds,

care for them as you would
the larva, and so that adds

an extra dimension to the whole
scenario of growing the fish.

So it's much more difficult.

Most freshwater fish that
are commercially cultured,

they don't require
live-feed organisms.

They'll feed on dry feeds.

>>NARRATOR: Once the pompano
reach a certain size, they, too,

are ready to be fed commercially
available fish meal.

>>It's very important that we
find replacements for fishmeal

and fish oil because we
don't want to be taking a lot

of fish out of the ocean
to feed fish on land.

>>NARRATOR:
A 2006 U.N. report estimates

that 35% of the world's fishmeal
is used for aquaculture,

leading some to criticize
the industry for adding

further pressure
to wild fish stocks.

Experts with the Agricultural
Research Service

are currently evaluating

eight alternative feed
ingredients for pompano.

>>We have had quite a bit of
success with some soy products.

Other things that we've been
focusing on a lot

are by-products
of other industries.

And one where we have
an abundance of material

that isn't being utilized
as well as it could be

is from the poultry processing
industry.

Cost is a big deal.

We think we can substantially
reduce the cost of feed.

Also, by tailoring the feeds
to meet the animal's requirement

as closely as possible, we can
make the animal more efficient,

which reduces any waste
discharge to the environment.

What we're doing here
is what's called

a digestibility study,
where we can quantif

the nutrients that are going
into the animal

and then quantify what's coming
out of the animal,

the difference being
what's available to the animal.

>>We're hoping
that what we do here

eventually will spark
an industry.

So we're trying to spend time
to go through

all of these problem-solving
exercises

so the commercial producer
doesn't have to.

>>NARRATOR: Aside from
developing alternative feeds,

the scientists are also
perfecting the use

of recirculating aquaculture
systems for marine fish.

There are many benefits

to recirculating
aquaculture systems.

They are almost
completely self-contained

and use a lot less water
than more traditional methods

of farming fish.

They also greatly reduce
the amount of wastewater

which is discharged
into the environment,

something that has been
a big problem in the past.

>>Mostly, you see that
in other countries.

In Japan and Southeast Asia

and certain parts
of South America as well

where you have very large
aquaculture operations

in inshore waters,

you do generate
very large algal blooms.

It does cause a lot
of environmental problems.

And indeed, in some cases
they generate red tides

which then turn around and kill
the fish they're trying to grow.

>>NARRATOR: At the Mote
Aquaculture Park in Sarasota,

scientists are also looking
into ways to raise fish

using similar recirculating
systems.

>>We are located 20 miles away
from the ocean.

>>NARRATOR: The facility makes
its own seawater,

which then is used over and over
after going through

a filtration process
to remove the fish waste

and leftover food particles.

>>Recirculating aquaculture
is using different types

of filtration systems to take
that water that's flowing out

of the tank and clean it up
so that you can bring it

right back into the tank-- and
we do that using a whole series

of different types of filters,

everything from what we call
mechanical filtration,

where we remove the solids
out of the water,

to bio-filtration,
where we remove

the dissolved waste products
that go into the water.

Then, the water will have to go
through a sterilization process

where you are removing
any types of bacteria organisms,

and we do that with ultraviolet
light and with ozone.

And finally, we're going
to remove carbon dioxide

and replace it with oxygen.

>>NARRATOR:
Experts at USDA,

Harbor Branch Oceanographic
Institute

and Mote Marine Laboratory
are also developing techniques

to raise pompano
in lower salinity water,

which would make it easier
and more cost-effective

to raise these fish inland.

>>The goal of this technology
is to be able to place a farm

anywhere in the country.

Many people in agriculture
are interested in diversifying

from corn production
or wheat production and also

incorporate fish production
within those operations.

And it's a perfect linkage
because you have the fish

that are being produced
through aquaculture

and you have high-nutrient water

coming out of those fish
production environments

that then can be used
to fertilize plant crops.

>>NARRATOR: Recirculating
systems aren't just to grow fish

for food production.

Mote Marine Laborator

and the Harbor Branch
Oceanographic Institute

are also members
of a statewide network

whose goal is to replenish
popular game fish in the wild.

>>Stock enhancement
is essentially adding

to a fairly healthy population
in order to help take

some of the pressure
off the wild stocks.

>>Florida likes
to consider itself

the "fishing capital
of the world."

About 39% of all the marine
fishing in the United States

happens right here in Florida.

Sport fishing in Florida

is about a $5 billion
to $6 billion industry.

>>Wow, nice.

>>NARRATOR: The Stock
Enhancement Program is overseen

by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.

It is a partnership
between the FWC

and several private
and nonprofit organizations.

FWC scientists have been
rearing red fish,

also known as red drum,

at the Stock Enhancement
Research Facilit

in Port Manatee since 1988.

For years, the popular
sport fish were entirely raised

in ponds, but now the program
is transitioning

to recirculating technology.

Recirculating facilities
use only 10% of the water

a pond requires, and they only
take up a tenth of the space.

>>145, 168.

>>NARRATOR: Experts involved
in the research say their goal

is to have stock enhancement
take place in concert

with existing marine fishery
management.

>>61.9.

>>NARRATOR:
Between 1988 and 2004,

more than six million
juvenile redfish

have been released in various
areas across the state.

>>Once we let the fish go,
there are other people

following these fish,
tracking their movements,

their survival and growth.

>>NARRATOR: In order to be able
to track the fish,

they are tagged
prior to their release.

>>They're anesthetized.

So I'm going to be tagging these
with a coded wire tag.

It's a very small tag
that you can use on small fish.

You can put it anywhere in their
body because it is so small.

And it actually comes on a roll
of wire, stainless steel wire

that is then cut into
one-millimeter sections.

It has a laser-etched number
on it.

This is kind of a dummy tag
to show you how the numbers

would look on it,
and it's magnetized

so we can detect it by that
magnetism later in the field.

>>And so we've put
great efforts into marking

and releasing fish
experimentally in pilot releases

to understand the effects
of release habitat on survival,

the effects of size
at release on survival

and the effects of the timing
of releases on survival,

and the effects of the magnitude
of the release.

How many fish can a habitat
support without starting

to impact other species
in a negative way?

>>NARRATOR: Keeping close track
of the genetics of the fish

is also important.

>>If you're not careful,
you could easily put inbred fish

out into the wild
in great numbers,

which would then grow up
and spawn with wild fish,

and that would begin to reduce
the genetic diversit

of the wild stock.

>>There's a west coast variety
of red fish

and an east coast variety
of red fish.

So it's important to have
brood stock that are

from the areas where you're
going to release them.

>>We take a fin clip
from the fish, and what that is,

it's like taking a fingerprint
from a human.

We'll send that out,
and that's how we know

our genetic diversity;
we know who contributed

to the spawn and the offspring
we released.

We're trying to have as much
genetic diversity per spawn

as possible.

>>NARRATOR:
Keeping close tabs on the health

of the farm-raised fish
is also an important part

of the program.

Scientists have made
great strides

incorporating stock enhancement
into fisheries management,

but much still needs
to be learned to make it

cost-effective to release fish
on a large scale

and to ensure it has
the desired impact.

Marine aquaculture,
or mariculture,

has come a long way
since its inception.

>>Six some odd billion of us
on the planet love seafood.

I believe it's the way
of the future.

>>NARRATOR: Much promising
research is happening

in Florida and elsewhere
to come up

with new and innovative methods
to farm-raise marine species.

There is much at stake
for the oceans

and for an ever-growing human
population that depends on them.

>>Major funding for this
program was provided

by the Batchelor Foundation.

Encouraging people
to preserve and protect

America's underwater resources.