In doing this lots and lots of times, we’ve learned who in the lab has a special knack for placing small drops of marine glue – Zspar (which you can see in the video) – on tiles, and who is better at adding the oysters so that the 2 valves of their shells don’t get glued shut. Our method of choice for this task is to glue the oysters to standardized tiles, place some in cages to protect them from predators, leave the rest to fend for themselves, and then put them in the field and see what happens over time. One of the primary goals of several projects in our labs involves figuring out where oysters grow and survive the best, and if they don’t survive, why not? Sounds pretty basic, and it is, but by doing this across lots of sites/environments, we can start to detect general patterns and identify important factors for oyster growth and survival that maybe we didn’t appreciate before.
SEPARATING SINGLE OYSTER SPAT FULL
The Nature Conservancy is thankful for support and guidance along the way from the Town of Phippsburg, Maine Sea Grant, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, the University of New England Marine Science Program, and the Department of Environmental Protection Marine Program.An “open” cage, with full predator access. "We've learned a lot about growing oysters and mussels out here," reflects Bell, "and are excited about working with businesses and communities to develop solutions in the face of the changes we're seeing all around us." When the study is complete, the reef will be handed over to the town of Phippsburg and maintained in partnership with the Maine Oyster Company, a local shellfish distributor and member of the SGCC. "The SGCC is committed to shining a light on how climate change is already affecting food production in the United States," McGee explains, "and using the stories of shellfish growers and other businesses endangered by climate change is a way to start a broader conversation about the urgent need for climate action." Continuing the Learningīack at the Basin, Bell and Moeser lift more tiles as they monitor the site to determine growth rates, ideal habitat conditions, costs and scalability of building oyster and blue mussel beds and reefs in Maine. "Because our growing coalition has considerable reach and a powerful story to tell, we expect it will have significant impact." "Growers have real, front-line experience with climate impacts, and their stories are compelling," says Sally McGee, director of TNC's Northeast Marine Program and TNC's coalition lead. In less than a year, the SGCC grew to over 100 members with operations from Maine to Alaska, welcoming businesses from all food sectors wanting to engage with consumers and policy makers to help chart the country’s course towards a low carbon future. The coalition's members are dedicated to bringing about climate policy action by sharing their stories of how climate change is already harming their operations, their businesses and their communities.
In 2018, a group of seven shellfish growers, led by Bill Mook of Mook Sea Farm in Walpole, Maine, formed a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to create the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition (SGCC). Reefs also help stabilize sediments and provide natural shoreline protection as storms become more frequent and powerful. The cleaner, clearer water then allows species such as eelgrass to thrive, further improving the health and productivity of the area. They also improve water quality as shellfish filter-feed on phytoplankton and tiny pieces of detritus, removing excess nutrients and suspended particles.
Oyster reefs and shellfish beds provide critical habitat for fish, crabs, shrimp and other marine life. The Importance of Shellfish to the Environment Additionally, other methods, including setting oyster spat on recycled oyster shells, are being tested in the same grid area.
As part of the test, some of the tiles have been seeded with very young oysters called spat, along with small discarded mussels from a nearby aquaculture operation. Launched by The Nature Conservancy in Maine in partnership with local and state organizations, the project involves setting on the seabed special one-foot by one-foot tiles resembling sand castles that are designed to mimic the natural environment where young oysters attach to and grow. This is part of a project to test oyster and blue mussel reef restoration techniques in the waters just off the Basin Preserve in Phippsburg. Surrounded by support boats and a team of sweltering colleagues, these divers weren’t exploring a reef, they were building one. On a hot summer day, two scientists slipped below the ocean’s surface in a protected cove on Maine’s Midcoast.
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