Oyster Farmers

Did you know that many of the oysters people eat are
grown in oyster farms? Aquaculture, which includes
oyster farming, has become increasingly important as
many wild species have been harmed by changes in the
oceans. Aquaculture is another word for growing
seafood in a controlled environment instead of
harvesting it from wild habitats. According to a NOAA
Fisheries of the United States report, 45 million pounds
of oysters were farmed in the United States in 2018,
with a total worth of $219 million. Aquaculture produces
food for people to eat and it grows oysters that can be used to rebuild ocean habitats. Using farmed oysters in
restaurants and supermarkets means that the wild oysters can stay in the ocean and help clean up
contaminants. Sometimes aquaculture oysters are grown in special tanks, and sometimes they are grown in
containers or cages in the ocean.

Farming oysters allows people to control some of the environmental conditions, but oysters are still impacted
by changes to the ocean water because most farmed marine oysters are grown in ocean water. Many farms
have lost money, and some have even had to close, when baby oysters did not grow as expected. In order to
protect baby oysters, farmers monitor the pH of the water in the tanks that hold oyster larvae. If the pH is too
low, they add another substance to the water to make it less acidic. For oysters that are growing in the open
ocean, farmers connect a pH monitor to buoys near their oysters. Then, if the incoming water is too acidic, the
farmers move their oyster cages until the water returns to a safe pH level. This constant monitoring takes
extra time and costs money, which can be challenging for small family farms.

References

National Marine Fisheries Service. (2021). Fisheries of the United States, 2019. U.S. Department of
Commerce, NOAA Current Fishery Statistics No. 2019 Available at:
https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/sustainable-fisheries/ fisheries-united-states

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. (2011, June). What is aquaculture?

https://www.noaa.gov/stories/what-is-aquaculture

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. (n. d.).
Aquaculture. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/topic/aquaculture

Saoysters. (2009). Purpose moulded Plastic oyster baskets manufactured by SEAPA [Photograph]. CC
BY-3.0. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oyster_Baskets.JPG

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