Business & Tech

The Clam House in Palmetto is the Last of Its Kind

When it comes to his business, the only way Kyle Brinkley can really explain how his livelihood has evolved is by referencing the movie Other People’s Money. He’s quoting Danny DeVito’s character Lawrence Garfield when he says:

“You know, at one time there must've been dozens of companies making buggy whips. And I'll bet the last company around was the one that made the best (expletive) buggy whip you ever saw.”

Brinkley isn’t making buggy whips, he’s a commercial fisherman and a successful one at that. But over the last decade, commercial fishing has changed and due to government regulations, Brinkley has to keep coming up with new ways to make a profit. In his mind, the commercial fisherman is nearly extinct and he is one of the last of his kind.

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“There is no one else that can do what I do,” he says. “I’m the last of the Mohicans.”

In addition to fishing, Brinkley started raising clams 11 years ago leasing fourteen acres of underwater grass flats from the state and growing them in two-acre increments in Terra Ceia Bay. Once they matured, he would harvest them and sell all over the U.S. When clam farming wasn’t enough to foot the bill, he opened a restaurant two years ago called, The Clam House, 304 7th St W., Palmetto.

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His newest endeavor is a fresh fish market, which opened in May. He stocks the market just off the side of the restaurant with grouper, snapper, mullet, sushi-grade tuna and anything else he and his 16-year-old son, Kyle Brinkley Jr., catch on a regular basis.

Because Brinkley cuts out the middleman, his prices are relatively inexpensive. A fresh fish dinner at his restaurant costs under $15, an unimaginable price for all the work that goes into obtaining the goods.

Brinkley specializes in Asian cuisine, his top sellers are his sushi rolls and Thai-fry fish; a whole fish (you get to choose the kind and size) flash fried and cut into bite size cubes that melt in your mouth. (The cheeks are the best part!)

So basically Brinkley is a general commercial fisherman, an aquaculturist, a seafood wholesaler, and most recently, a retailer. How or why does he do it all?

“I love commercial fishing that much,” he says. “I’m just that dedicated and I don’t want to lose to processed and imported fish from China.”

Other area businesses have done what Brinkley is doing and came out on top, like Karen Bell, owner of A.P. Bell in Cortez, who also owns Starfish Co., 12306 46th Ave. W., Cortez. But most, don’t make it in the restaurant business.

Hats off to people like Brinkley who are keeping the commercial fishing trade alive!


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