SATURDAY 9/20: Volunteers Sought to Grow Oyster Gardens

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation  is seeking volunteers to grow baby oysters in floating “oyster gardens” attached to piers, docks, and marina slips to help restore the Bay’s oyster population. CBF will host a workshop to train volunteers on Saturday, September 20, from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Lab, 40 Atlantic Avenue in Wachapreague.

Advanced registration for the workshop is required. A $30 donation covers the cost of oyster seed (other materials must be purchased) and includes membership in CBF. To register and for more information, visit www.cbf.org/virginiaoysters, send an e-mail to [email protected], or call 757/622-1964.

Workshop participants will receive 1,000 native seed oysters and instructions on how to maintain an oyster garden throughout the coming year. At the end of a year’s time, volunteers will return their mature oysters to CBF for transplanting onto local sanctuary reefs, where the oysters can reproduce, filter Bay water, and provide food and homes for other marine life.

Oyster gardeners who have been raising oysters for the past year are asked to return their mature oysters to the September 20 workshop in Norfolk and join CBF staff to place them on a nearby oyster reef.

“Growing your own oysters is one of the most enjoyable, fascinating ways you can contribute to the recovery of the Chesapeake Bay,” said Tanner Council, CBF Hampton Roads Grassroots Coordinator. “As prolific filterers of Bay waters, oysters are an important player in restoring our waterways. And people of all ages, especially kids, find great enjoyment nurturing these amazing creatures from baby spat to mature oysters.”

The Bay’s oyster population has declined drastically over the past decades, and CBF works with other groups, volunteers, and government agencies to restore this iconic Bay species. CBF currently has more than 300 oyster gardening families throughout Virginia who volunteer to raise oysters for restoration. Since 1996, CBF and its partners have grown or transplanted nearly 40 million oysters and have helped build or restock more than 20 oyster reefs.