Learn more about these projects on the hatchery's website. The hatchery works with its partners to distribute oysters for commercial aquaculture and to build up oyster reefs in the Bay. In 2017, the hatchery produced more than 1.7 billion oyster spat (young oysters that are attached to a larger oyster shell), a record. Our Maryland Sea Grant Extension aquaculture specialist, works in cooperation with many partners to operate the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, which cultivates young oysters for aquaculture and restoration projects. Maryland Sea Grant Extension plays an important role in promoting progress in collaboration with federal and state agencies, other university programs, and non-governmental organizations. There are no easy fixes to these challenges. Encouraging the remaining watermen to embrace aquaculture-oyster farming at fixed locations-is a challenging proposition because this business requires a different set of skills and substantial start-up costs. For example, generations of Chesapeake watermen have harvested wild oysters from grounds scattered around the Bay. However, restoring self-sustaining populations of wild oysters to a significant level may prove difficult because of a host of ecological, economic, and cultural hurdles. And oyster reefs provide habitats for a variety of other fish, benefitting the entire ecosystem. That is because of the creatures’ ability to filter vast amounts of water, improving its quality. Increasing the Chesapeake’s oyster populations is a high priority in Maryland. We offer assistance and information to prospective oyster producers, business owners, commercial harvesters, resource managers, students, and educators. Offer technical advice about aquaculture methods, business financing, and public policy.Provide seed for oyster aquaculture and restoration of wild oysters.Maryland Sea Grant Extension is working with its many partners to bring oysters back-by using aquaculture to cultivate the mollusk for food and restoration. On the Bay: Chesapeake Quarterly's Blogįind out more about this two-year study comparing contained culture equipment for oyster aquaculture production.ĭisease, habitat loss, overharvesting, and poor water quality have left the Chesapeake Bay’s iconic wild oysters in a dismal state, at just 0.3 percent of their teeming population in the early 1800s, according to a 2011 research study by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.Fellowship Experiences: A Students' Blog.
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