News and Events
Journey 3 - Issues and Management
Aquaculture and the Amazing Oyster
October 28, 2010
As part of the third journey, which concentrates on policy that affects the bay, Chesapeake Semester students traveled to Cambridge, MD to visit Horn Point Lab and the Oyster Recovery Partnership to see how oysters are grown in captivity to be released into the bay, in hopes that they will one day repopulate the bay's endangered oyster population. In the afternoon, the group visited Marinetics, a private aquaculture operation that produces oysters for sale to restaurants and distributors.
Click to enlarge photos by CES Associate Tara Holste '07.
The first stop on the trip was Horn Point Laboratory, where Researcher Stephanie Alexander explained the work done at the lab.
Piles of shells illustrate how many oyster spat were produced at the lab each year.
Paige Sanford '12 examines the many creatures who make their homes in oyster beds.
Juvenile oysters (spat) grow on the shells of oysters collected from restaurants, which are then placed on the bottom of the bay.
Jack Wells '12 looks into a tank of oysters being used in an experiment.
Danielle Crystal '12 and Kathy Thornton '13 peer into a tank prepared for oyster larvae.
Stephanie Alexander explains to students how algae is produced in the lab to feed the growing oysters.
A computerized, automated feeding system keeps the oysters well fed at all hours of the day.
A variety of algae species ensure a well balanced diet for oyster larvae.
In the greenhouse, algae from the lab are added to tanks of water, where they multiply into an oyster buffet.
At the next stop, Director of Operations Eddie Walters tells students how the Oyster Recovery Program recycles thousands of oyster shells from restaurants to be used by Horn Point Lab in the production of new oysters.
Oyster shells must be cleaned and sterilized before they can be used for oyster spat.
Steel cages of oyster shell will be submerged in water for oyster larvae to attach to. The cages will then be emptied on oyster beds throughout the bay.
The Maryland Grows Oysters program, run by the state of Maryland, provides cages to homeowners along with spat on shell from which new adult oysters can grow. The cages are then collected and the adult oysters are placed on existing beds.
The 2010 Chesapeake Semester from left to right: Program Manager Mike Hardesty '05, Kathy Thornton '13, Elle O'Brien '12, Danielle Crystal '12, Jack Wells '12, and Paige Sanford '12, posing with a load of oyster shells and Oyster Recovery Partnership Director Eddie Walters.
At Marinetics, Inc, Elle O'Brien '12 looks out over the sea of floats, each containing growing oysters that will be sold as half shell to restaurants.
Owner Kevin McClaren explains to the students how much more cost effective aquaculture can be for raising oysters than traditional oyster harvesting from the bay.
Spat for the operation are grown in a hatchery similar to the one at Horn Point Lab, and raised to a certain size inside an old boat shed before being added to the floats.
Jack Wells '12 sampled oysters fresh from the river, "Choptank Sweets" and "Choptank Salts".