Visit Storm and Hurricane Preparedness for Off-Bottom Oyster Aquaculture Storm and Hurricane Preparedness for Off-Bottom Oyster Aquaculture Oyster aquaculture, like any agriculture operation, has inherent risks with perils beyond growers’ control. However, coastal waters present challenges for oyster farmers in the form of tropical storms and hurricanes. 2020 University of Florida/IFAS
Visit Biofouling Control Strategies: A Field Guide for Maryland Oyster Growers Biofouling Control Strategies: A Field Guide for Maryland Oyster Growers Biofouling, or plants and animals that colonize oysters and/or cages, can affect profitability. This handbook reviews macroalgae, cushion moss, encrusting bryozoan, barnacles, false mussels, hooked mussels, slipper limpet, ghost anemone, sea squirts, boring sponge, red beard sponge, clam worms, mud worms, & whipworms. 2020 Maryland Sea Grant, University of Maryland Extension
Industry Perspective Why Restaurants May or May Not Buy Certain Oysters Direct from the chef's mouth — what he's looking for when buying an oyster for his restaurant. Michael Wiley, business owner/chef 2020
Visit Selling US Farm-Raised Fish & Shellfish to the Food Service Industry Selling US Farm-Raised Fish & Shellfish to the Food Service Industry Developed to help growers tap into selling to the foodservice market. Most small growers don’t have an advertising budget, but there are a number of marketing and public relations strategies that can be used to grow sales. 2020 National Aquaculture Association
Visit Potential Gear Coatings as a Mitigation Technique for Invertebrate Predators of Aquacultured Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) Potential Gear Coatings as a Mitigation Technique for Invertebrate Predators of Aquacultured Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) This project aimed to identify a gear coating that deters and mitigates predation by oyster drills (Urosalpinx cinerea) and starfish (Asterias rubens) on aquaculture eastern oysters. Identifying potential strategies to mitigate starfish and oyster drill snail predation on eastern oysters could increase oyster survival, which would increase yield and revenue. 2020 Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center
Visit Eastern Oyster Production in Maine: A Basic Overview Eastern Oyster Production in Maine: A Basic Overview An overview of oyster production techniques including nursery and husbandry, common gear used, and oyster biology. 2020 Maine Sea Grant
Visit Research, Development and Education Priorities for the Aquaculture Sector in Maine Research, Development and Education Priorities for the Aquaculture Sector in Maine This report is based on the research priorities survey conducted in June 2019 of Maine’s aquaculture community and is compared with surveys from 2012 and 2016 to look at trends. There have been some changes in the prioritization of needs since 2016, but many of the same research, development, and education (R&D&E) needs persist and remain unaddressed. As expected, there are different R&D&E priorities for different aquaculture sectors. 2020 Maine Aquaculture Innovation Center
Visit Earn Your Captain's License Earn Your Captain's License Atlantic Captain’s Academy offers a variety of Coast Guard approved courses for Coast Guard captain’s license candidates. 2020 Atlantic Captain’s Academy
Visit Kennebec River Biosciences Kennebec River Biosciences A global fish and shellfish health lab, we offer you top-quality diagnostics, import/export inspections, and veterinary solutions from consultation to custom vaccines. 2020 Kennebec River Biosciences
Visit What Does the Oyster Consumer Want? What Does the Oyster Consumer Want? Reviews quality, consistency, cleanliness, food safety, shape, flavor, year-round availability, timely shipping, attractive packaging and a nice name. 2019 East Coast Shellfish Growers Association
Visit Does a Flip-Bag System Produce a Better Eastern Oyster? Does a Flip-Bag System Produce a Better Eastern Oyster? Reviews tide–flipped bags or baskets ability to produce a more attractive and commercially valuable Eastern oyster for the half–shell market. Found that flip-bag oysters grow slower but had a wider fan, deeper cup, heavier shell, yielded more meat, were less fouled, and required less labor to maintain. 2017 East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, Roger Williams University
Visit Shellfish Biosecurity: Risks, Management & Best Practices Bivalve Shellfish Physiology, Pathogens, Diseases Shellfish Biosecurity: Risks, Management & Best Practices Bivalve Shellfish Physiology, Pathogens, Diseases Presentation on oyster pathogens and diseases such as MSX, SSO, dermo, and Vibrio, testing protocols, long-term management, oyster predators & pests, the difference bewteen infection and disease, disese prevention, biosecurity, risk evaluation, pathogen surveillance, and zonation. 2016 Kennebec River Biosciences
Visit The Business of Aquaculture The Business of Aquaculture Reviews the keys to running a successful business; the four P's of marketing, wholesale distributors, risks, and sales. 2015 Aquaculture in Shared Waters
Visit Mud Blister Worms and Oyster Aquaculture Mud Blister Worms and Oyster Aquaculture Report on the mud blister polychaete worm, Polydora websteri, including a description, life history, settlement, burrowing, treatments, and biosecurity. 2015 Maine Sea Grant, University of Maine
Visit Marketing Cultured Oysters Marketing Cultured Oysters Video of a workshop that goes over niche marketing for raw bar cultured oysters, differentiating your product on qualities and adapting your marketing pitch, how to target key buyers and get maximum return. 2015 East Coast Shellfish Growers Association
Visit A Comparison of Bottom and Floating Gear for Growing American Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Southeastern Massachusetts A Comparison of Bottom and Floating Gear for Growing American Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) in Southeastern Massachusetts A study compared how oysters grew in floating cages versus bottom cages that determined that generally oysters grew faster and survival and condition index were higher in floating gear. 2014 Woods Hole Sea Grant, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension
Visit Northeastern U.S. Aquaculture Management Guide: A manual for the identification and management of aquaculture production hazards Northeastern U.S. Aquaculture Management Guide: A manual for the identification and management of aquaculture production hazards Intended to help prospective farmers to identify, record, monitor, and manage production hazards, and ultimately minimize production-related risk. Discusses types of risk in aquaculture, record keeping, environmental conditions, biofouling organisms, predators, diseases, parasites, invasive species, and operational procedures. 2014 Northeast Regional Aquaculture Center, USDA
Visit Dead and Dying Shellfish: What to Do? Dead and Dying Shellfish: What to Do? Fact sheet designed to try to improve the growers knowledge on the process to contact a professional who can examine dead or dying shellfish to determine the cause and how to get the shellfish to them for analysis. 2013 Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center
Visit Build a Drum Nursery Silo Build a Drum Nursery Silo Dr. John Supan demonstrates how to build a drum silo to raise oyster seed. 2013 Louisiana Sea Grant
Visit Oyster Diseases of the Chesapeake Bay: Dermo and MSX Fact Sheet Oyster Diseases of the Chesapeake Bay: Dermo and MSX Fact Sheet Fact sheet on Dermo disease, Perkinsus marinus, and MSX disease, Haplosporidium nelsoni, including geographic distribution, history, biology, epizootiology, environmental influences, control measures, and diagnostic methods. 2013 Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Visit Sea Squirts as Potential Vectors of Harmful Algal Introductions Sea Squirts as Potential Vectors of Harmful Algal Introductions This fact sheet is about research that shows connections between sea squirts (ascidian organisms) and harmful algal blooms. In some species, algal cells remain viable after being consumed by biofouling organisms, the invasive sea squirts. 2013 Connecticut Sea Grant
Visit Building a Floating Longline System for Nursery Culture of Eastern Oysters Building a Floating Longline System for Nursery Culture of Eastern Oysters Covers the basic elements of a longline system, including materials, construction, installation and maintenance. 2013 Maine Sea Grant
Visit Shellfish Upweller Silo Construction: 101 Shellfish Upweller Silo Construction: 101 This fact sheet reviews the method for constructing a cylindrical silo for an upwelling system. 2010 Northeastern Regional Aquaculture Center
Visit Best Management Practices for the East Coast Shellfish Aquaculture Industry Best Management Practices for the East Coast Shellfish Aquaculture Industry In depth document created to provide the information and a framework that will enable a shellfish farmer to write a comprehensive Best Management Practices document focusing on gear/operation and maintenance, user conflicts, permitting/siting, and environmental concerns. 2010 East Coast Shellfish Growers Association