NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) - Virginia shellfish farmers are leading the nation in hard clam sales.
The Virginian-Pilotreports that data from the College of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that shellfish farmers sold about $32.3 million worth of aquacultured clams in 2015.
Virginia also came out on top in oyster sales among East Coast states. The report shows that the state's shellfish farmers sold $16 million in oysters last year.
The number of oysters and clams sold was down slightly from the previous year. But Karen Hudson of the institute says researchers are more interested in long-term trends than "single year-to-year variations."