Posted on May 7, 2021
Lyle Topping, Features Writer
When you think of Earth Day a couple things may come to mind,
planting a tree or simply going out and enjoying nature by hike or bike
ride. For some reason, the ocean never gets brought up. For something
that takes up over half of our planet, you’d think it would have more of
a forefront than it does on a special day like this. Coming from a land
locked state originally, “ocean education” was unfortunately, not a hot
topic at hand for me.
I was able to reach out to Victoria Parks, the Co-Founder and Senior
Hatchery Manager of Seaventure. Ms. Parks has a BS in Marine Science
from the University of Florida. The following is an excerpt of our
interview:
In Motion: Please describe your background.
Parks: “I interned at multiple shellfish hatcheries
during my undergrad where I began sharpening my skills in the lab and
the hatchery. I have been operating Seaventure Clam Co for roughly 4
years now producing the Hard Clam, Mercenaria mercenaria. In that time, I have participated in studies involving both clams and microalgae for use in the hatchery.”
In Motion: “Can you please describe Seaventure.”
Parks: “In October 2017, we established our Florida based bivalve
hatchery, Seaventure Clam Co. We specialize in the production of Hard
Clam, Mercenaria mercenaria, seed for shellfish farmers
throughout the Southeast of the United States (FL, GA, NC, with pilot
studies taking place in NJ), with a majority of our farmers located on
the northwest coast of Florida, in Cedar Key. Our seed sizes range from
1.0 mm, 1.2 mm, and 4.0 mm.”
In Motion: “How important is the ocean to our ecosystem?”
Parks: “The ocean makes up the majority of our planet, making its
health vital to the stability and survival of our ecosystem. The ocean
acts as the Earth’s regulator, sustaining the climate balance required
to create this planetary oasis. Additionally, it produces both of
Earth’s oxygen and stores a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere.
Therefore, it is imperative that we make our oceans health one of our
top priorities as residents of this planet.”
In Motion: “Can you tell the general public a little bit more about ocean education?”
Parks: “I would encourage the public to engage with
industries surrounding our oceans, there are so many talented and
brilliant minds working on solutions that the world needs to know about.
We also need to understand that everything is so closely tied together,
this is not an individual person or industry issue. This is an area
where if we make improvements in stock populations and water quality in
our oceans then we will see an improved quality in our oceans then we
will see improved quality of life for coastal residents and draw
tourist. Expansion of both will create economic opportunities for many
coastal communities.”
To learn more about Seaventure Clam Co, visit their website at https://www.seaventureclamco.com.
