Jordan Kramer cleans kelp from one of the cages where he is experimenting with growing littleneck clams. "The biggest source of labor on my farm is cleaning these cages," Kramer says. He started Winnegance Oyster Farm in 2014 in the Back Cove region of the New Meadows River.
Kramer sorts through littlenecks. His customers include wholesalers Harbor Fish and Upsream Trucking, and restaurants like Woodford Food + Beverage and Island Creek's The Shop.
Kramer hauls in one of the containers where he is growing the clams. In 2017, he got a Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant from the USDA to grow littleneck clams along with his oysters.
Jordan Kramer at his oyster farm in the New Meadows River. He is diversifying, experimenting with littleneck clams. "Littlenecks are unique in that they are more valuable at a smaller size," Kramer says.
"As a farmer you are constantly experimenting and adapting," says Kramer, shown aboard the Muffin II. "It keeps things interesting." His work in aquaculture is also a way for him to do something "really proactive" to help combat climate change.
Kramer pours some littlenecks out to check their progress.
Kramer grew up in Portland, went to Vassar for college and worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before deciding to come back to Maine for good.
Jordan Kramer gets ready to head out to his oyster farm in the Back Cove of the New Meadows River, where he's also now growing littleneck clams.
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