Eagle scout oyster project

[Memornix]

I want to start out by saying that I am in no way involved with this kid but I am involved in oyster reef restoration where this project is happening.

This eagle scout is working on a project to raise oyster spat which then can be used to seed artificial oyster reefs in the waterways around the Chesapeake bay in MD.

He has a go fund me here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/nicks-oyster-gardening-eagle-project?utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_source=customer

And since this is a project I believe in, anyone who feels up for contributing, just let me know if you do and I will enter your name in a random drawing to win this sweet thing:

https://www.mcarterbrown.com/forum/buy-sell-trade/pump-guns/304132-pmi-tracer-with-bottom-line-and-upgraded-barrel

[shooter311]

Very cool project. I can't believe a adult oyster can filter 50gallons of water a day, that is crazy.

I made sure to make a donation. This seems like a very worth while cause.

[Impactfour]

I'm an oyster and mussel farmer in RI. It's really neat to see a group of young men getting involved in Oyster farming for it's environmental impacts.

In addition to filtering up to 50 gallons of water a day, oysters also help with carbon sequestration and increase both biomass and biodiversity in the area they are farmed. For those who are interested in this project, I'd also suggest checking out the billion oyster project, the goal is to utilize oysters to clear out pollutants from the New York harbor, yet another incredible use for these tasty bivalves.

[Grendel]

A good friend (my Best Man and I was his Best Man in two of his 3 marriages...) is an Aquatic Engineer and loves nothing more then talking about oyster farming methods [he farms as well as works in the petroleum industry] and the benefits/risks involved. This sounds like a great Eagle Scout project, I have provided links to my friend as well; he is very active with helping others pro bono and has a lot of industry contacts.

[shooter311]

In college for an MBA project a small group created a Maine oyster cooperative that form my understanding is still operating and very successful today.

So very complex story in a nut shell: Basically, there is a huge demand for Oysters in Europe, but they cannot farm them successfully due to water temperature. So they import almost all their Oysters. Manhy Oyster farms tried sending to Europe, but they are all relatively small operations. So these farms would pay big money for a ship to transport them but die to the small numbers and size of the ship, most died on the way, so it was not feasible to do so.

So Europe was getting the majority of their oysters from eastern sources where hygiene was a major issue. The majority of the oysters they were getting in were infected with Herpes and some other really nasty stories.

So we created a cooperative where at the time 8 farms would pool their resources and be able to hire a much faster and larger ship, and they started shipping very successfully to Europe. The profits were fantastic and the farmers were talking about drastically expanding their business!

Side note. At first we started the project as a Lobster cooperative to solve very similar problems, but Lobstermen are old school, and refused to work with others and hated "college kids" lol.Oyster farmers seemed to be much younger and more open to collaboration.

[Jonnydread]

"You're cheating on me!"

"No honey! It's the oysters, I swear!"

[Impactfour]

For part of every year I work out of a boat in a harbor with mostly commercial fisherman. They have a mixed reaction when they find out I'm an oyster farmer, many are respectful and interested in our field. That being said, there are definitely those who have more than a few choice words college educated shellfish farmers, or Doctorate holding marine scientist for more than a few perceived reasons (some of which I understand and respect). I walk an interesting line as I got my degree in marine biology and work as a shellfish farmer but they respect that I have captained large vessels since my early 20s.

[Memornix]

I never cease to be amazed that the broad experience base this message board has to offer.

[Jordan]

Want some zebra mussels from Lake Ontario for free? 🙂