Saving Seafood

The rise of alternative oyster growing methods in the USA

August 25, 2021 — A new range of off-bottom cultivation techniques, backed by positive reports and state incentives, is beginning to supplement traditional oyster farming methods in Louisiana.

When many people think of oysters they envision a cluster of odd-shaped, rock-like objects, typically growing on some hard surface on or near the seafloor. According to FAO figures, in 1952 global oyster aquaculture production surpassed wild harvests for the first time – with 306,930 and 302,526 tonnes reported, respectively. Aquaculture production has consistently exceeded wild oyster harvests since that time, and in 2019 accounted for 6,125,606 tonnes, compared to 133,984 tonnes of wild-harvested. Traditional culture methods relied (and still rely, in many regions) on natural setting of wild larvae on suitable benthic substrates. But there are other ways to grow oysters, and these techniques can result in significantly greater production volumes.

Off-bottom oyster culture utilises trays, baskets, cages, or hanging lines/ropes mounted on racks or suspended from floats or rafts. This approach allows for more access to natural foods and avoidance of many fouling organisms and predators. Fouling organisms still occur, but one remedy that can be adopted in off-bottom culture involves regular exposure of oysters to the air (weekly or biweekly), in such a way as to inhibit growth and survival of fouling organisms, while oysters close their shells and wait patiently until they are re-submerged.

Read the full story at The Fish Site

Pacific Northwest heat wave causes vibrio bacteria outbreak in oysters

August 2, 2021 — A heat wave that sent temperatures into the triple digits for three days in the U.S. Pacific Northwest in late June and early July drove up levels of the vibrio bacteria in area oysters, causing record numbers of illnesses from the bacteria and prompting oyster recalls.

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) reported 75 lab-confirmed cases of vibriosis as of Wednesday, 29 July, and said there are likely many unreported cases. According to figures provided by DOH, the previous record number of vibriosos cases through 28 July was 48 in 2018.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Your love for fresh oysters can help the planet

July 27, 2021 — We drop anchor and I learn the trick to the perfect shuck—gently work the knife into the back hinge—and slurp the freshest oyster I’ve ever tasted. The mollusk was harvested minutes earlier from the lineup of floating cages beside our boat in this secluded section of Maine’s Casco Bay.

“There’s a freshwater spring off Upper Goose Island that drains out right into the farm and cuts the salinity, so our oyster is much more bright and balanced, with a light cucumber finish,” says Cameron Barner, an oyster farm owner with an advanced degree in aquaculture, and my tour guide for the afternoon. “If you go upriver or eat bottom-planted oysters, you get a more minerally umami flavor.”

Oyster farm tours, like this one led by Love Point Oysters, and self-guided bi-valve trails are cropping up throughout the United States. COVID-19 stalled the trend but with travel restrictions loosening, oyster enthusiasts are once again back on track. Along the Maine Oyster Trail, which re-launched in June, tasting tourists can earn swag by “checking in” at various experiences and sites along the trail, including Love Point. Other trails can be found in Louisiana, Virginia, North Carolina, and Washington, the country’s largest producer of aquaculture.

Read the full story at National Geographic

Diners’ discarded shells help establish new oyster colonies

July 6, 2021 — Call it the seafood circle of life: Shells discarded by diners are being collected, cleaned and dumped into waterways around the country and the world, where they form the basis of new oyster colonies.

One of the latest such projects is taking place in Atlantic City, where a casino and two other restaurants are saving the shells left over from their diners. The shells are then collected by the state Department of Environmental Protection, and workers and volunteers with Rutgers and Stockton universities and the Jetty Rock Foundation load them on barges and dump them into the Mullica River.

That waterway is home to one of the last self-sustaining oyster populations on the Atlantic coast, according to Shawn LaTourette, the state’s environmental commissioner. The clam, oyster and other shells form the basis of new or expanded oyster colonies when free-floating baby oysters, known as spat, attach to the shells and begin to grow on them.

“You have the benefit not only of ecological restoration, but it has kept 65 tons of shells out of landfills,” said Scott Stueber, a fisheries biologist with the DEP. That helps the eateries save on waste disposal costs.

The program began in 2019 and currently collects oysters from the Hard Rock casino, the Knife & Fork restaurant and Dock’s Oyster House in Atlantic City. Several other casinos have expressed interest in joining.

Read the full story at the Associated Press

Oyster Farmers Who Feared Going Broke Brace for a ‘Bonkers’ Summer

June 14, 2021 — A year ago, oyster growers who farm New Jersey’s marshy coastal inlets and tidal flats were fighting for survival.

Restaurants were shut down by the pandemic, and the oysters they had nurtured for two years were growing past their prime. The pricey seafood that should have been sold in raw bars or served at weddings was instead submerged in cages and racks in Barnegat and Delaware Bays, crowding out a younger crop of oysters.

“When Covid hit, that market disappeared,” said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the study and conservation of marine life and habitats.

Unable to pay for boat fuel or the following year’s seed, some small aquaculture farmers in New York and New Jersey, struggling to revitalize what was once the country’s pre-eminent oyster market, braced for the worst.

But a year later, against long odds, the industry is poised for a summertime boom.

Read the full story at The New York Times

Farmed shellfish creates half of economic impact of shellfish in North Carolina

June 10, 2021 — Cultivated, or farmed, shellfish now represent over half of the total economic impact of shellfish in the state.

New research has found that North Carolina’s shellfish industry provides over $27 million in economic impact and 532 jobs in the state. Until 2016, the industry’s economic impact primarily came from the harvest of wild oysters and clams.

In 2019, farmed oysters contributed over $14 million to state gross domestic product and 271 jobs, according to research published by Eric Edwards of NC State University’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

The findings stem from a collaborative project led by North Carolina Sea Grant in partnership with researchers at NC State University, Appalachian State University, Duke University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington and funded by the N.C. Commercial Fishing Resource Fund Grant Program.

“The goal of the research was to better understand the economic impact of North Carolina’s seafood industry,” says Jane Harrison, North Carolina Sea Grant’s coastal economics specialist and a project lead. “The shellfish results indicate the strength of the growing aquaculture sector.”

Read the full story at The Coastland Times

Uneaten oysters provide pearl of an environmental solution during COVID-19 pandemic

June 4, 2021 — Environmental groups and oyster farmers have found a silver lining — or a pearl — amid the ravages of the pandemic.

Millions of oysters that went unsold when restaurants closed are finding a new life back in the ocean, where advocates say they’ll help the environment and help coastal communities combat climate change.

Seafood and shellfish demand crashed during the pandemic. By the time restaurants began to reopen, many oysters had grown too big to eat.

But environmental groups quickly recognized a way to use those oysters in coastal communities. The Nature Conservancy and PEW Charitable Trusts announced plans to buy millions of unsold oysters and return them to the ocean as living reefs.

“We were just sitting on top of these huge oysters, just kept getting bigger and bigger by the day, and we, we couldn’t sell them. So they came in with a program, the SOAR program, and bought a lot of oysters from these guys. And it was a real lifesaver,” said Matt Welling, the owner of Lucky 13 Oysters in Long Island, New York.

Read the full story at WSJM

UNH scientists aim to solve a million dollar problem for aquaculture industry

May 25, 2021 — A pesky little jellyfish-like animal is causing major problems—and major costs—for aquaculture everywhere by choosing to permanently live on aquafarming equipment, reducing production sustainability. However, new research from the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station in the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture sheds light on possible ways to dissuade these animals at early, larval stage from calling aquaculture production systems home.

The research is vital to NH’s oyster-dominated aquaculture industry, in which the number of farms grew faster than any other state—a 229 percent increase— from 2013 to 2018, according to the U.S. Census of Aquaculture.

New Hampshire had nearly $1 million in sales from aquaculture in 2018. Globally, more than 50 percent of all human-consumed seafood is produced by aquaculture—the farming of fish, mollusks, aquatic plants, and other products. The global economic impact of aquaculture is greater than $31 billion. When post-harvest operations data are included, it is estimated that one in two workers in the sector is a woman.

Read the full story at Foster’s Daily Democrat

Paul Simon Galtsoff: Oyster Researcher and Woods Hole Lab Advocate

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries: 

Born in 1887 in Moscow, Russia, Paul Simon Galtsoff was trained at the Imperial Moscow University. He graduated in 1910 with a degree in zoology and chemistry and married Eugenia Troussoff in Moscow in 1911. He soon became one of Russia’s leading scientists. As unrest took hold in the country, he joined the Imperial Russian Army in 1914. The couple moved to Sevastopol where, at age 27, he became the director of the Marine Biological Station, a branch of the Imperial Academy of Science.

Coming to the United States

As the Bolshevik Revolution spread, Paul and Eugenia were forced to leave Sevastopol during “The Great Exodus” November 13-16, 1920 with just hours to spare. Landing in the Port of New York on January 20, 1921, he found that marine research was in its infancy in the United States. With extensive experience in zoology, he eventually found a temporary position with the Bureau of Fisheries. He surveyed the Mississippi River for marine life after construction of a dam in Iowa. Two years later he was appointed to the Woods Hole Lab to serve as naturalist aboard the research vessel Albatross.  

Eugenia had pursued undergraduate and graduate studies in Russia in biology and zoology. After the couple emigrated to the United States, she worked at George Washington University as a histology assistant for many years. Paul Galtsoff pursued graduate studies at Columbia University. He earned a doctoral degree in biology in 1925 while still working at the Woods Hole Lab.

Read the full release here

A Sustainable Seafood Sampler from Coast to Coast

May 20, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

In the United States, we love our seafood. Thankfully, due to strong science and a dynamic management process, our fisheries are among the largest and most sustainable in the world. So no matter what coast you’re on, you can be sure that the U.S. seafood you find there is a smart choice. And just like the culture of each region has its own flavor, so does its seafood! Read on to discover what local favorites you might find around the country.

Northeast/Mid Atlantic

Eastern Oysters

Farmed oysters are one of the most popular aquaculture species in the world and they’re an excellent choice for your next seafood dish. Oysters filter the water where they live, which removes excess nutrients and improves water quality. Growing oysters also requires no feed since they eat phytoplankton floating in the water. Unlike wild oysters, farmed oysters are available year round. They are low in saturated fat and excellent sources of omega-3 fatty acids and iron.

Oyster flavor profiles can range from sweet to briny. You can eat them raw on the half shell or cook them in a variety of different recipes. They’re delicious whether you grill, fry, broil, or bake them.

> BBQ bourbon chipotle butter grilled oysters

> Asian fried oysters

Acadian Redfish

Acadian redfish, also called ocean perch, are the only fish in the rockfish/ocean perch family in the Atlantic. The fish is called redfish in New England and Canada—not to be confused with redfish from the Gulf of Mexico (which is a drum).

Acadian redfish are harvested year-round but harvests are usually largest during spring and summer in the Gulf of Maine. Their taste profile is mild and slightly sweet and their meat is medium firm, moist, and flaky.

> Acadian redfish with chimichurri

> Spicy redfish tacos

Read the full release here