The 2019 oyster gardening season was the biggest yet!
In its fourth season, the Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program saw 48,558 oysters planted in the Mississippi Sound. The Alabama programs, established in 2001, produced 103,535 oysters for planting in the Mobile Bay. Additionally, the 2019 season saw the one million oysters planted milestone! The combined programs have produced 1,040,970 oysters for planting on restoration reefs.
The 2020 season looks to be another record breaker with more than 160 bags of shell going out to sites along the Gulf coast in Mississippi and Alabama.
Whole shell, recycled from restaurants participating in the Alabama Oyster Shell Recycling Program, is “seasoned” for a minimum of 6 months. The shell is picked up and washed to improve the oyster spat’s settlement on the shell.
This year, the Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program has an exciting advancement! Previously, all oysters were spawned at Auburn University Shellfish Laboratory in Alabama, however, beginning with the 2020 season, spawning will occur at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Thad Cochran Marine Aquaculture Center. In the future, we plan to utilize Mississippi’s new shell recycling program (established 2020) making the program fully functioning on Mississippi resources.
The Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program is working closely with staff at USM’s Marine Aquaculture Center to coordinate spawning and distribution during this COVID-19 pandemic. Updates will be provided via social media (Facebook, Instagram) and our newsletter (sign up on the Mississippi Oyster Gardening Program website). This season will close on Oct. 31 to prevent crossover with oyster harvesting season.
We are looking forward to another exciting oyster gardening season and can’t wait to see how many acres of reef we restore this year!