6/22/2023 0 Comments Homeowner oyster spat collectionThe Pensacola Bay Oyster Company was founded in 2013, when local Pensacola businessman and entrepreneur Donnie McMahon realized a need for premium Florida oysters. Originally organized in the 1970s, the BFA worked closely with the newly formed University of West Florida, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Florida Dept of Health to identify and coordinate a monitoring program that continues to this day. The BFA promotes environmental stewardship through water quality monitoring by implementing programs that educate citizens and students about how they can help improve the quality of our environment for all persons, plants and animals from the headwaters of creeks to the Gulf of Mexico. The Bream Fishermen Association (BFA) is a well-known and highly respected organization which has assisted the city, county, state, and region as environmental stewards in protecting our northwest Florida and south Alabama waters for over 50 years. Oysters have many enemies including the starfish oyster drills (gastropods) Oyster Catcher (birds) various crabs and croakers & drum (fish). The Eastern oyster can live to be 25 to 30 years old. Oyster growth is influenced by temperatures, salinity, food availability, and periods of exposure to air and population density. The spat will take on the contour of the cultch material and will begin to resemble an adult oyster in a short time. This rate will slow as the oysters increase with age. The growth rate of the spat may be as high as 10 mm/month (1/4 “). These oysters are known to colonize dock pilings, rock jetties, and other areas wherever there is firm footing to support their weight. Oysters are found throughout the Pensacola Bay system where salinities range from 8-25 parts per thousand (ppt) and spat collection may occur in various locations. An adult oyster can filter approximately 35-50 gallons of water in a day under optimum conditions! Oysters create their own habitat by making oyster reefs, which offer protection, food, and habitat to many types of marine organisms. This increases water quality by reducing the amounts of contaminants, thereby promoting water clarity by reducing sediments. During feeding, oysters take in phytoplankton, algae, bacteria, viruses, sediments, and chemical contaminants. Oysters are natural filtering mechanisms which get their food and oxygen by pumping large quantities of water across their gills. Oysters are a big part of our local ecology and found throughout various pockets along the northern Gulf of Mexico Estuaries and bayous. Interested participants can receive 75 juvenile oyster spats and begin the grow-out cycle again. Adult oysters will be measured and weighed before being installed in a living shoreline project within the same water body. Oysters will be grown out in cages for 9-12 months and returned for measurements. Participants will receive an oyster cage, 75 oysters, a rain gauge, logbook, instructions about caring for the oysters, how to clean and maintain their cage, and a point of contact. This will provide basic information on setting up and maintaining oysters under the best possible condition for your location. Interested homeowners, individuals, or people wishing to sponsor a class or student must attend a 3-hour workshop. ![]() Students and citizen volunteers will collect and gather data to assist us with the project. The project is based on the Oyster Gardening for Restoration and Education courses developed by the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance. The cages will be provided along with 75 oysters which will be counted, weighed, and measured before deployment. ![]() We will place oyster cages on private docks throughout the smaller bayous within the Pensacola Bay System. The fewer the algae, the more oxygen available for marine life. Oysters can remove nitrogen from the water like sheep grazing down a meadow. The decay process consumes oxygen, leaving the water with too little oxygen to support fish and other marine life. When it dies and falls to the bottom, it decays. Nutrient runoff, such as nitrogen, increases the growth of algae. Oysters can play a big role in improving our local waters. ![]() Examples of pollution from runoff include oil and gas from vehicles, metals from car brakes, detergents, or lawn care chemicals to name a few. When landscape changes from rural areas such as the Blackwater River State Forest to an urban area (such as downtown Pensacola), the quality of the runoff after rain events shifts from healthy (natural filtration through leaves and sand) to an impaired stormwater runoff which enters our creeks, bayous and bays after each rain event. Water quality in coastal estuaries, bayous, creeks, and bays is not as healthy as it once was, mainly due to changes in the landscape.
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