Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
(CIB)
Oyster Gardening Program
Annual
2009 Oyster Gardener Meeting/Seminar
6 pm on Thursday June 11, 2009 at the Center for the Inland Bays - click here for directions. The meeting will include a review of last season’s activities including Delaware State University grad student research findings - Frank Marenghi’s habitat study and Johnna Fay’s work on the occurrence and distribution of Vibrio bacteria in the estuary. The 2009 season work plan will be reviewed and everyone will have ample opportunity to ask questions and meet other gardeners from around the Inland Bays.
Recommended
Oyster Gardening Publications with Basic How-to Information:
Virginia Institute of Marine
Science University
of Maryland Virginia Oyster
Gardening Guide
Background Info * Inland Bays
Citizen's Monitoring Program * CIB Oyster Gardening Fact
Sheet * Inland
Bays Journal Article
Oyster Gardening 2005 * Oyster Gardening 2006 * Oyster
Gardening 2007/08 * Other East Coast Oyster
Gardening Programs
Delaware Oyster
Gardening and Restoration - A Cooperative Effort (YSI Environmental
Application Note)
2009 Oyster Gardening Registration
Form
You are
invited to take a tour of the University of Delaware College of Marine and Earth Studies Hugh
R. Sharp Campus in Lewes, Delaware. Click here for
more information
NOAA Hosts
National Symposium on Shellfish and the Environment
To learn more about shellfish restoration, oysters and their habitat value and other ecological benefits, click here to visit our online reference library
The Oyster Gardening Program,
initiated during the summer of 2003, is a cooperative effort among the CIB, Delaware Sea Grant Program,
Delaware State University
and citizen volunteers to produce juvenile oysters for stocking the
demonstration oyster
reef at the CIB's James
Farm Ecological Preserve at Pasture Point on
Indian River Bay and for newly initiated oyster restoration work in Little
Assawoman Bay.
The oyster spat (on shell)
used in the program have been deployed in Taylor Floats during
the last five seasons (2003 - 2008) at various locations in all
three of the Inland Bays. Average increases in oyster growth - ranging from
23 to 45 millimeters depending on location - have been good to excellent. Good oyster growth
has been observed at all Inland Bay locations especially in the Oak Orchard
area of Indian River Bay and the southern portion of Little Assawoman Bay.
Growth rates
observed during the initial deployment of oysters in Little Assawoman Bay
contradict anecdotal estimates that bay water quality conditions are generally
unsuitable for bivalves. These results also demonstrate the high potential for
oyster aquaculture in the bay using off-bottom gear and to take advantage of
the relatively closed conditions of Little Assawoman for promoting natural
recruitment by developing oyster spawning sanctuaries in the Bay. For
additional information about the Inland Bays Oyster Gardening Program, please
contact CIB oyster gardening coordinator EJ Chalabala
Please direct all questions and comments about the Web site or to report broken links to: John W. Ewart Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory program
For additional information about the Center for the Inland Bays oyster gardening program, please contact
EJ Chalabala
Delaware Center for the Inland Bays
39375 Inlet Road
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Phone: (302) 226-8105
Fax: (302) 226-8109
Email: wildlife@inlandbays.org