Increasing clam thefts brought about a general membership meeting of the Cedar Key Aquaculture Association (CKAA) on November 12. Although clam poaching has been a problem since the demise of a private security company in 2002, a recent upsurge of poaching has occurred. Representatives of three law enforcement agencies exchanged ideas with thirty-two people attending the meeting. Weaknesses in current enforcement efforts were diplomatically and forcefully examined. Human and electronic surveillance methods as well as microchip identification of clams were discussed. An allocation of farmers' sales toward support of a security system was proposed. However, a reconstitution of a ten member CKAA Security Committee was perhaps the most concrete outcome of the meeting. 
CKAA member Sue Colson speaking about a problem in reporting clam thefts.
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One CKAA member tested the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs "poaching hot line" and got a "nice"dispatcher who informed her that no agent was in the Cedar Key area, adding the name of an officer who has not been serving in the area for more than a year. There was general agreement by meeting participants that on-the-water patrols are necessary to stop poaching. Levy County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Scott Finnen outlined ways of getting government and foundation funding for security programs. Electronic (radar and Infra-red method of watching clam leases were described by clammer Bill Leeming and former security company owner Lamar Gore. Gore ran a private patrol until 2002. Land-based and on-the-water systems were compared. Drs. Hank and Linda Stoddard of Cross City shared information on the use of microchip tagging of clams. Microchips have been used for years as implants for identification of pets and livestock. The chips which are the size of a short piece of pencil lead can be glued to clams to provide hard legal evidence of ownership. Clam poachers would need a chip reader to find incriminating tags. 
CKAA member Chris Reynolds making a proposal for financing a security system.
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CKAA member Chris Reynolds proposed having clam wholesalers collect a small fee from all sellers for use in financing a security system. He said that wholsalerw will support a fee based on clam sales. 
Security Committee: (l. to r.) Lamar Gore, Allison Brown, Jr., Chris Reynolds, Jerry Beckham, Bill Leeming, Rory Cantwell, Rosie Cantwell, Ross Buck and Dawn Buck.
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At the meeting's end ten CKAA members volunteered to serve on a Security Committee. The committee's charge is finding technical, regulatory and financial means of reducing clam poaching. | 