When it comes to competing with shellfish farmers from other countries, one of the biggest problems that British Columbia's (BC) clam farmers have identified is the high harvesting costs they incur. Other countries can harvest the clams they farm for eight cents a pound, because they use a mechanical clam digger. It costs BC farmers eighty cents a pound, because they harvest by hand.
However, the discrepancy in clam harvesting costs may soon be a thing of the past. Thanks to funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP), the BC Shellfish Growers Association was able to hire a Research and Development Coordinator. The person they hired to fill the position, David McCallum, seeks out and manage research projects that benefit BC shellfish growers. McCallum then helps implement useful research at the farm level. One of his current projects involves working with Fisheries and Oceans Canada to locate and import a mechanical clam harvester for use as a prototype for a Canadian design. McCallum is also conducting an environmental assessment to make sure the harvester does not damage habitat.
"Ultimately, if we can apply this technology across the industry, it will greatly reduce the harvesting cost of clams," says McCallum.
That kind of direct benefit to shellfish growers is one of the reasons the BC Shellfish Growers Association applied to NRC-IRAP to finance a research and development position. Before the Association hired McCallum, Roberta Stevenson, the executive director, was the only person managing Association business for its 180 members. Her time is largely spent lobbying governments on regulatory issues. The Association had no ability to disseminate research results and help farmers implement best practices that could help them increase their business.
"We did not have the capacity to do anything to improve on-farm profit," says Stevenson.
But once McCallum came on board in 2006, he was able to create and maintain a website and newsletter where he summarizes relevant information for the farmers, as well as hosting ann annual workshop. He also works with individual farmers and processors to help them implement research findings. In addition, McCallum sits on committees involved in water quality and scientific issues, and works with members of the public to educate them about the shellfish industry and its need to use a common public resource - water - for their business.
Now, the shellfish growers are well-represented in organizations that make decisions that affect their industry, and they receive valuable information to help them prosper - through the website, at the workshop or, in person, from McCallum.
"This program has brought direct financial benefit to farmers," says Stevenson. "Without the NRC-IRAP funding, we could not afford to have a person do that."
Other research McCallum has brought to shellfish farmers is information on how to mitigate stress on the oysters, clams, mussels, scallops and geoducks that they grow. He also produced an interpretive guide to help farmers identify, manage and remove five invasive aquatic species.
McCallum has worked with engineers and farmers to create a computer-generated design of the raft that farmers can hang their shellfish from, and has helped communicate the results of one researcher's findings about the optimal depth for hanging oysters.
McCallum views his role as that of a liaison between the research community and the farmers, and his primary task as communication.
"There's a lot of information out there that is hard to find or not applicable to industry," says McCallum. "I try to keep the academics in line and make sure that what they're doing will benefit industry."
Stevenson cites McCallum's ability to participate in forums and to connect to researchers across Canada as vital to the BC shellfish industry's interests.
"Without that position in this office we would definitely not have the national scope that we do," she says. "We're able to link to the East Coast of Canada now and feel more part of a Canada-wide aquaculture.
"NRC-IRAP has been very generous and we're so thankful."
