August 16, 2024 — As a fisheries and aquaculture specialist at the Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, Abigail Archer spends a lot of time trying to help the public connect the dots between shellfish, nitrogen, and healthy estuaries. This relationship starts when nitrogen travels through freshwater streams and runoff into our marine environment.
“Oysters are kind of like sheep grazing out in a field. And so, you know, the sheep are not standing in a field absorbing the nutrients from the grass. They’re actually munching on the grass and then eating that and then getting the nutrients in the grass,” she explained.