USDA/NJDA
Team for Grant Award To Clam Producers
For ‘Jersey Seafood’ Brand Clams
1/26/05
(ATLANTIC CITY) – New Jersey Agriculture Secretary
Charles M. Kuperus and Andrew M.G. Law, State Director for
the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development
Program, today awarded a $47,100 USDA Value-Added Producer
Grant to a group of seven aquaculture producers in the state
for the marketing of clams under the Jersey Seafood brand
name.
“Expanding
upon New Jersey’s successful Jersey Fresh branding
and marketing program, this new Jersey Seafood brand of
clams will highlight that the Garden State is home to high
quality shellfish,” said Secretary Kuperus. “The
USDA Value-Added grant program provides essential economic
resources so that new ventures such as this can take the
first steps to success.”
The
seven entrepreneurs of the newly formed New Jersey Seafood
Marketing Group will use the grant to begin their efforts
to launch and market a Jersey Seafood brand of clams. New
Jersey Department of Agriculture staff, as well as professionals
from Rutgers Cooperative Extension and Food Innovation Center,
will assist the group in its marketing efforts.
“We
in Rural Development are enthusiastic about the creativity
demonstrated by these entrepeneurs and benefits of the value-added
grant program,” said Andrew Law. “With the assistance
of the Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, professional
branding with the Jersey Seafood logo, our seafood industry
will be recognized for its fresh shellfish -- with its corresponding
shelf life -- harvested in the Garden State. The industry
will be strengthened and the new branding will help create
a continuing and sustainable economic climate for family-owned
shellfish operations now and into the future.”
The
New Jersey Seafood Marketing Group, led by George Mathis
– a third generation bayman who operates Mathis Clam
Farm in Egg Harbor Township -- will sell high quality, fresh,
locally- raised hard clams, in mesh bags at local retail
establishments and farm markets. The group will be the first
in the state using newly developed Jersey Seafood standards
and brand logo for an aquacultured product.
“I
hope that the quality standards that we are implementing
as well as the new packaging, will go a long way towards
furthering consumer interest and purchasing of the best
available products,” said Mathis. “Jersey's
best seafood is joining Jersey Fresh in setting the standard
for only the best of quality.”
New
Jersey fishermen harvest a wide variety of seafood in addition
to clams, including scallops, blue crabs, mackerel, squid,
monkfish and flounder. In 2003, 170 million pounds of seafood
was harvested, valued at $120 million. Six major commercial
ports thrive in the state – Cape May, Atlantic City,
Belford, Point Pleasant, Point Norris and Barnegat Light.
In 2003, Cape May was the sixth largest port in the nation
landing $74 million dollars of seafood. The New Jersey Seafood
Retail and Import Export industry has annual sales in excess
of 2 billion dollars.
New
Jersey also is home to at least 152 aquaculture farms with
total sales estimated in 1998 at $5.8 million. This includes
86 hard clam farms, 34 oyster farms, and 14 farms producing
both types of shellfish. New Jersey has the second highest
number of molluscan farms in the Northeast and ranks third
in sales from those farms. In 1998, these farms account
for an estimated $3.3 million in sales. The total acreage
of aquatic farms in New Jersey is 1,466 of which 1,402 are
saltwater and 64 are fresh water.
In
2004, New Jersey established a program to license the possession
and ownership of aquacultured stock. Currently, 138 licenses
have been issued to aquatic farmers in the state.
To
emphasize the significant seafood industry in New Jersey,
a Jersey Seafood website was developed by the New Jersey
Department of Agriculture last year. Found at www.jerseyseafood.nj.gov,
the site provides consumers with a wide array of information
on seafood products from the Garden State. The Jersey Seafood
concept underscores the fresh and healthy nature of seafood
caught or grown in close proximity to the markets where
it is sold.
“Besides
the variety, great taste and healthy diet benefits of our
seafood, the industry is an integral part of the state’s
heritage and economy,” said Kuperus. “Through
joint ventures such as this and the USDA Value-Added grant
program, the state’s shellfish industry will be strengthened.”
Value-Added
Producer Grants may be used for planning activities and
working capital for marketing value-added agricultural products
and for farm-based renewable energy. Eligible applicants
are independent producers, farmer and rancher cooperatives,
agricultural producer groups, and majority-controlled producer-based
business ventures. The maximum amount that can be awarded
is $500,000, and all grant funds must be matched by an equal
amount of funds from the applicant or a third party. In
2004, approximately $13.2 million was available for grant
awards.
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