JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In Florida's Big Bend region, the tiny island of Cedar Key produced nearly every clam eaten in Florida. Then came Hurricane Helene, destroying much of the island and its clam farms. It is a multimillion-dollar industry, and, as Catherine Welch reports, it's trying hard to make a comeback.
CATHERINE WELCH, BYLINE: What makes clams from Cedar Key so unique is they're sweet, tender and not so briny.
LESLIE STURMER: The clams in Cedar Key are well-known for their taste. They're known nationwide. And you don't even have to have a brand name. It is Cedar Key clams.
WELCH: Leslie Sturmer lives here and is a specialist with the University of Florida, working with the local clam industry. In good years, it brings a harvest of up to 200 million clams that supplies nearly every store and restaurant across Florida.
STURMER: The pipeline's quick. We get clams out, and, within a day, maybe even less, they're at Costcos or your local grocery store.
WELCH: In the past 14 months, Cedar Key farmers have weathered three hurricanes - Idalia, Debby and Helene.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT MOTOR PRIMING)
MICHAEL BOBBITT: All right, we're going to head out to the Dog Island clam leases. Oh, what a beautiful day.
(SOUNDBITE OF BOAT ENGINE ROARING)
WELCH: Michael Bobbitt is one of Cedar Key's nearly 200 farmers who grow clams in shallow waters on a muddy floor just off the island. They lease their plots from the state.
BOBBITT: We're situated between two rivers - the Waccasassa River this way and the Suwannee River that way - and it seems to deliver the perfect mix of salt and fresh water.
WELCH: That's the ideal condition to raise clams in large black mesh bags. They'll grow from a seed to those ready to sell. White poles stick out of the water to mark where Bobbitt's clams grow. Just before Helene, Bobbitt planted 1,500 bags of clams, and only 30 survived the rough seas and storm surge. Most were swept away. Pulling up a bag that made it, he dumps dark black clams onto the back of his boat. It's not looking good.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLAMS LANDING ON BOAT)
BOBBITT: Normally that's the sound of money, but right now that's the sound of dead clams.
(SOUNDBITE OF CLAMS SHUFFLING)
WELCH: They just couldn't handle the churning ocean waters. Bobbitt lost nearly all of his crop. He and the other farmers are now waiting for new clam seeds. They'll have to wait a few months because of Hurricane Milton. It came in right after Helene, but south of Cedar Key, damaging the main clam seed supplier in South Florida. Once the seeds arrive, University of Florida's Leslie Sturmer says it will take at least 15 months before farmers start making money again.
STURMER: So it's going to take fortitude, patience, perseverance, resources and any kind of financial disaster assistance that USDA and other programs can provide this industry in their recovery efforts.
WELCH: And a lot of the recovery also depends on how long clam farmers are spared from another hurricane.
For NPR News, I'm Catherine Welch in Cedar Key, Florida. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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