Wednesday, July 05, 2006

NC Oyster Hatchery Program Up and Running

Carteret Community College's newly remodeled aquaculture facility has been greatly anticipated and it appears that their first batch of oysters is doing extremely well. The first batch of three week old baby oysters were delivered to a nursery area run by the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries earlier this week. Carteret Community College's hatchery is part of the larger NC Oyster Hatchery Program, which is managed by the North Carolina Aquariums. Oyster cultivation is an interesting process. Male and female oysters are gathered from the wild and put into large tanks where the water temperature is manipulated to encourage them to reproduce. The resulting larval oysters are fed a diet of algae for roughly two weeks, at which point they develop a foot and are moved to outdoor tanks filled with recycled oyster shells. The baby oysters use their new feet to attach to the shells and begin to grow. We are very excited about their efforts and hope to see NC oysters making a comeback soon. Don't forget you can also do your part and enjoy growing your own oysters beneath your dock by joining the NC Under Dock Oyster Culture Program. More on the Carteret Community College hatchery is available from the Outer Banks Sentinel.

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