ABC's applied mandate of developing useful strains and varieties of shellfish naturally includes cooperative projects with various industry partners. In addition to developing new strains for testing, we maintain brood stocks for distribution.
Some examples follow.
Clam Breeding Project Hard clam aquaculture is now the most economically important cultured product in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Despite the successes in hard clam aquaculture, in Virginia and also generally on the US East Coast, very little effort has been focused on genetic selection of brood stock clams. ABC has taken on the task of establishing an industry wide selection and broodstock maintenance program. The overall mission of CBP will be to enhance the development of Virginia's hard clam industry by applying needed breeding practices. In reality, the information that exists on the genetics of hard clams is insufficient to allow an a prioi breeding plan from day 1.