A Brief Overview of the Growing Process

A Brief Overview of the Farming Process

Our marine farm consists of several discrete stages at three different culture sites. Initially we spawn oysters and grow the very small seed in our hatchery. Seed is then moved to our nursery at a small brackish water pond where oysters spend the entire first year. Finally, 1-2" seed oysters are grown to maturity at an exposed, oceanic site during the second year. We employ intensive farming techniques where the oysters are held in nets, suspended from the bottom throughout the entire process.

Hatchery

Our hatchery consists of two distinct culture systems. In one, we grow specific species of phytoplankton. The phytoplankton is the food that supports the culture of oysters from microscopic larvae to small juveniles that grow to a size of about 1/16". Initially, we bring our parent stock into the hatchery during January. Our parent stock are the result of over a dozen generations of selection for disease resistance, fast growth, and perfect shape. Growth rates and therefore yields to maturity of our genetic line have nearly doubled in the last 12 years. Adults hibernate in the winter and therefore must be conditioned to spawn. We hold the adults for three to four weeks in warm water and feed them large amounts of food. Our objective is to simulate the conditions the oysters would experience in June when their eggs and sperm would ripen in the wild. Once conditioned, oysters are spawned by being stimulated with sharp increases in water temperature. Each female may emit over fifty million eggs. The microscopic eggs are collected and fertilized and then moved to our larval rearing tanks. Each day we drain the tanks, collecting the larvae on ultra fine mesh screens. The larvae (initially 20 million in a 150 gallon tank) are inspected, counted and returned to the tanks that contain fresh seawater and food. After two to three weeks, most of the larvae, which are free-swimming, have reached a size of 300 microns and are ready to go through metamorphosis. The larvae are then moved to downwellers; short lengths of two foot diameter PVC pipe with mesh screens on the bottom. We grind oyster shell into a fine cultch and spread it on the screens. The oysters cement themselves to the fine pieces of shell and are no longer free swimming larvae but miniature adults. The set oysters are grown for another few weeks in the hatchery and attached greenhouse until they are about 1/16 of an inch.

Nursery

Our nursery system is located in Ocean Pond, an 85 acre brackish salt pond. After the oysters leave the hatchery it is no longer necessary to feed them. All of their nourishment comes from naturally occurring phytoplankton. The seed is initially placed in a nursery system know as a FLUPSY (floating upwelling system). This is an electric motor powered system that flows large volumes of water through thick beds of seed oysters. The small oysters are cleaned and sorted on a weekly basis. When the oysters attain a size of about 1/2", which can happen in about three weeks at the height of the growing season, they are large enough to be introduced into our pearl net culture system. A specific number of oysters are stocked into each pearl net and then hung from longlines. These nets must be handled and cleaned every 3-4 weeks during the growing season which lasts from about May until November. Initially, a million oysters will fit into just a few cups. By the end of the growing season, those few cups can become more than 750 bushels of large seed. We keep the oysters in the pond through the winter. The following spring, when the oysters are 1-2", they are sorted by size and redistributed into a different, larger net that is used for final growout.

Final Grow out

We use lantern nets for the second and final year of culture. These nets consist of five tears, each tier holding one hundred oysters. Like the pearl nets, our lantern nets hang from long lines. By the end of the season the nets can weigh up to eighty pounds. Our final grow out site is located in a very exposed area. The benefit of this site is the high volume of pristine Block Island Sound water that flows through the farm. The disadvantage is that we are extremely exposed to storms. Oysters grow at this site from mid June through the middle of November. During this time we handle each net about three times in order to keep the nets free of the seaweed and marine invertebrates that would reduce the circulation of water into the nets. During the rest of the year the oysters hibernate and the nets serve as an inventory system for marketable oysters. This is an extremely labor intensive process which we accomplish with two 21' skiffs. We ship oysters each week from September to July. Before the oysters are shipped they receive one last cleaning and then each oyster is examined and counted into boxes. Oysters are harvested in the morning and packed into boxes and shipped the same day. Therefore, all our customers receive Fishers Island Oysters 24-36 hours after they are harvested.