Clam Daddy’s
A bushel of crops comes to mind when thinking about New Jersey’s roots as the Garden State. Sweet and savory tomatoes, sun-ripened blueberries, glossy aubergine eggplants – and, in Brigantine at least, a hearty harvest of fresh and delectable hard clams burgeoning in the back bays.
Clam Daddy’s has been farming its namesake in Brigantine’s waters since 1984. The small family business has honed its craft over the past 40 years, perfecting the art of aquaculture in order to serve up the freshest, tastiest clams around.
“Aquaculture is a way for us to farm in the bay. It’s the most green type of farming that there is. We’re taking these animals and putting them back in the environment where they’re found, letting them sit in the bay and filter the water,” Billy Mayer Jr. explained. “And then we just harvest them.”
Billy is the farm manager of Clam Daddy’s. It was his dad, Bill Mayer Sr., that got on the ground floor of aquaculture to start the business, which is also run with help from Billy’s sister, Nicole, and the Mayer family matriarch, Lori.
While the idea of farmed seafood can get a bad rap, Clam Daddy’s is proof that this practice can be a boon for all involved, including the environment.
“It’s different because aquaculture is letting them go back in the wild where they’re from,” Billy said. “Our job is to protect the clams and take care of them.”
A Clam Daddy clam’s journey starts at the business’s lab on East Shore Drive, where the clams are bred, spawned and protected in a land-based nursery system that utilizes pumped bay water. The clam “seed” – which are actually the five-mm baby clams – are transferred to the bay, where they spend the next three to four years hunkered down, filtering the water and growing into the plump and delicious clam everyone knows and loves.
Farming in the bay is really not that different from farming on land, according to Billy. If you picture a large corn farm in Pennsylvania, that’s basically what’s going on underneath the water. There’s a grid system with rows that are color coated and marked for certain years, with rows rotating over time just like fields on a land-based farm.
“We have to do a lot of crop rotationand a lot of organizing,” Billy explained.
The areas behind Brigantine island where Clam Daddy’s raises its broods are all secured via aquaculture leasing through the state. Even though Clam Daddy’s has been in the business for decades, it’s still a unique venture, Billy said, with few commercial shellfish leases in the area. So unique, in fact, that they were just featured on an episode of From Scratch on Tastemade.
Once harvested, the clams either head to one of the business’ wholesale customers, some of which have partnered with Clam Daddy’s for more than 20 years, or they head to market – the Brigantine Farmers Market, that is.
“That provides the community a fresh place to get the clams,” Billy said, adding that clams from the market will last three to five days in the refrigerator.
Clam Daddy’s also offers local delivery on the island for a minimum order of 100 clams. Placing an order is as simple as sending a text to Billy at 609-266-0677. (Calls are welcome, too – just be sure to leave a message if Billy is out on the water and can’t answer right away.) If clams are available, Billy will drop them off. It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on Clam Daddy’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, which may highlight some last-minute clam availability.
“What I’m trying to provide is almost a farm-to-table experience. When you’re purchasing the clams from us,you’re not only supporting a small local business, you’re also supporting the Brigantine environment,” Billy said. “You just know when you’re getting them from us, they’re harvested fresh daily.
“You can’t get fresher.”
