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SHOWING THEY GIVE A CLAM
 | | Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari is shown with one of the giant artistically painted clams. |
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TOMS RIVER - Artistically decorated giant clams are popping up around the county in support of the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program.
Overgrown versions can be seen at Storher's Shell Station in Manahawkin, The Chowda Pot and Just Bead It in Beach Haven, Sunset Beach in Harvey Cedars and at the Long Beach Island Institute of Art and Sciences in Loveladies, with more to come.
Occasionally, the giants take to the road and have made appearances from the annual Jersey Shore Partnership summer celebration in Sea Bright to the Ship Bottom Christmas parade.
Funds from sponsors of the giant clams are used to support a program in which volunteers raise clam and oyster seeds to juveniles. They are then released into Barnegat Bay. The mollusks help purify the water and support the clam industry by providing a local supply of succulent bivalves for residents and visitors alike.
Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari, who serves as liaison to the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County, said, "The Board of Chosen Freeholders was happy to provide initial funding which helped to establish the program, now in its third year and responsible for putting 1.5 million clams and 100,000 oysters in Barnegat Bay."
Gef Flimlin, the county's Marine Extension Agent for Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County, notes there are a variety of ways to support the program. For details about the program and the new clam trail, a new family oriented environmental involvement activity, visit www.reclamthebay.org.
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