Mobile Bay, Alabama Oyster Gardening Program
Kara
Lankford, Program Coordinator/Volunteer Contact
klankford@mobilebaynep.com
(251) 431-6409
In November
2006, 60,000 oysters raised by Mobile Bay NEP
volunteers and 100,000 raised by AUMERC were
placed on Boykin Reef off Dauphin Island and
Shellfish Reef in Bon Secour Bay. Thank you to
AUMERC and to all our volunteers!
"Spat" were delivered to
Oyster Gardeners in Mobile and Baldwin Counties
during the last week of June, 2007.
They'll be looked after and monitored until
November, at which point they'll be collected
and distributed to restore Bay reefs.
Now in its sixth year of operation!
The Mobile Bay
Oyster Gardening Program is a cooperative effort
that includes the Mobile Bay National Estuary
Program, Auburn University Marine Extension and
Research Center, and the Mississippi-Alabama Sea
Grant Consortium. Other partners have included
the Alabama Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources Marine Resources Division,
Alabama Department of Public Health, and
Volunteers! The original financial
support was provided through a generous grant
from the Gulf of Mexico Program. The program
brings together scientists and citizens to help
enhance Mobile Bay’s oyster populations.
We are pleased this year to have received a
generous grant from the Gulf of Mexico
Foundation's Gulf of Mexico Community-Based
Restoration Partnership. Other granting
agencies have included the Gulf of Mexico
Program, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Foundation
who provided a 5-Star Restoration Grant to the
Mobile Bay NEP.
Based on a
successful program from Chesapeake Bay, this
project was modeled for Mobile Bay through the
cooperation of the partners mentioned above.
We hoped to accomplish several goals:
1)
Conduct scientific research on oysters,
2)
Improve water quality through oyster
filtration,
3)
Protect young spat, giving them a chance
to grow through predator protection and better
conditions,
4)
Create habitat for other marine species,
including commercially significant fish and
crabs, and
5)
Educate volunteers about oysters.
This is the first
project of its kind on the Gulf Coast, and it is
now in its sixth year of operation. Basic data
collection on oyster growth and water quality
parameters (temperature, salinity, and dissolved
oxygen) takes place when spat are delivered to
volunteer gardeners and during the first week of
every month until they are collected for reef
distribution.
The oysters are NOT
grown for consumption.
Click on the links below for more information.
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- Frequently
Asked Questions on Oyster Gardening
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