I want to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.
- Mary Oliver
Do you feel it? Can you feel the stealthy approach of spring at last, full of birds and wildflowers, the longer days? Are you feeling hopeful? Or, at least, more hopeful than you have felt in the last 365 days? I know our pandemic plight is not over, not yet, but there does seem to be light at the end of this arduous tunnel. There are many activities that our oyster-loving communities can still participate in while waiting out these last few months of isolation.
Adopt a restaurant and help us recycle oyster shell to be used to build oyster reefs. One person or a pod can do this activity safely. Picking up a few buckets of oyster shell and delivering to one of our shell sites around the Bay greatly benefits our work.
We’re excited to be partnering with a generous landowner in Martinez who has 20 acres of open space that he has offered up for our use. Contra Costa county residents and restaurants, here’s your opportunity to get into the shell recycling game.
And speaking of shell sites, many people have contacted us about recycling shell from restaurants in the South Bay. We would be delighted to have a site in the South Bay to collect and cure shells. Shells need to cure (be exposed to the elements) for a couple of years before being used. We want a place that is remote or where stinky shells and possibly attracting critters is not an issue. If you have an idea of where we could cure shell in the South Bay please let us know.
Every site and restaurant is different and has different rules and protocols. If you would like to collect shell or have idea for a new site location, contact us directly at linda@wildoysters.org
And as always support your local restaurants and oyster farmers. They have been impacted so much during the pandemic. They can’t serve food or farm oysters from a home office! Some of our shell recycling partners are back open for outdoor dining or pickup. Please consider having brunch or slurping on a tasty cocktail at one of these fine establishments, Pier 23 Cafe, Mission Rock Resort, El Rio Bar.
We so look forward to the day (Soon!) when we can gather together to share oysters, good company and conversation and even some hugs.
Be well. Stay safe. Be Kind.
Linda Hunter, Founder & Director
Wild Oyster Project
Wild Oyster Project YouTube Channel!
Wild Oyster Project has some exciting new endeavors on the education front! We are launching our early childhood education video series titled “Bay Buddies” on our YouTube channel, where toddlers, preschoolers and early elementary aged kids can learn about various mollusks and sing English and Japanese mollusk songs!
So far we have connected with twelve San Francisco Unified School District 3rd to 5th grade classrooms to deliver our virtual environmental education unit, titled “Our Bivalve Buddies in the Bay: Olympia Oysters.” We feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to engage with 220 students during the fall of 2020. In the spring of 2021, we are expanding our virtual offerings to kindergarten through second grade classes through a new environmental education unit that will use kinesthetic activities and stories to teach about mollusks in the Bay.
We are very much looking forward to connecting with schools and community-based organizations for in-person opportunities in the field and the classroom as the Bay Area begins the process of reopening safely! Please contact Education Manager Reiko Ando at reiko@wildoysters.org if you would like to learn more about current virtual learning opportunities, and begin planning for in-person collaborations.
- Reiko Ando, Education Manager at Wild Oyster Project
Holy Moly, Olys!
Part 2 - Olympia Oysters to Table
In the last Aw Shucks! November 2020 edition, we shared steps 1-3 on how to grow oysters from scratch. If anyone was wondering what the next steps to getting that Oly closer to being enjoyed on the half shell, well you’re in luck!
Step 4: Growin’ up
The tiny Oly oyster spat is now about the size of quinoa, and it is time to let them spread their gills! They have left the laboratory and have been relocated to a FLoating UPweller SYstem or better known by its acronym FLUPSY. A FLUPSY is a floating nursery that allows young oysters to have a continuous and diverse food supply, while also providing protection from predators.
A FLUPSY can be built on a floating barge, boathouse, or dock. The oysters are housed in a silo with a screen on the bottom to allow food-filled water to flow through (say that 5 times fast!) and past the oysters that then slurp up the microorganisms and filter the water. This screen also serves to keep out pesky predators such as crabs, snails, and starfish (oh my!). The water then flows up and out of the FLUPSY and back into the environment.
These diagrams show two different cross sections of a FLUPSY & the water movement through the system. https://lishellfishrestorationproject.org/flupsy-specs
Step 5: Settlin’ Down
As much as they might want to, the oysters can’t stay in a FLUPSY forever. As they grow in size, the thousands of little Olys in the FLUPSY begin to feel more and more cramped. The oysters are now slightly smaller than a penny, and they are ready to find a more permanent home. The oysters are usually outplanted into the wild, in bags or attached to floating structures. This gives them access to a variety of delicious microorganisms while also protecting them from predators. Once they have grown big enough to go to market, oyster growers will remove these bags and send them to various restaurants to be enjoyed by millions.
Step 6: Given’ Back
Even after being slurped down at your local oyster bar, the Oly’s still have one more essential step in their journey. Shells from restaurants are collected by the Save Your Shucks program and are picked clean by a dedicated team of chickens (a job I’d certainly want if I was a chicken!). These shells are then sun-dried for three years before being used for our Oyster Base Camp program (See Aw Shucks! August 2020 for more information).
In the future, Wild Oyster Project hopes to expand the good these recovered shells can do by bringing them back to where we started our journey: microscopic oyster larvae. Outplanting recycled shells into the environment gives wild baby oysters a chemical signal to hone in to (remember the shell dust from Part 1?) as a sign that the environment is good for them to live. They then settle down and will live as part of a new oyster reef, continuing to send the signal to new generations of oysters that will settle down, remediate local waters, and recreate an entire ecosystem, one that had been previously lost, from scratch.
About the Authors:
Chelsey Souza wears many hats in the name of oyster spat. She is a key member of the Wild Oyster team as well as a Junior Specialist at Bodega Marine Lab (BML), where she studies shellfish diseases and works closely with the Endangered White Abalone Recovery program headquartered at BML. As a Tomales (no, not “tamales”) Bay native, she grew up slurpin’ oysters on the half shell and has a great appreciation for them as both food and essential components of our local marine ecosystems.
Gabriel Tsuruta is an Animal Technician with BML’s Aquatic Resources Group (ARG), where he facilitates research at every level, from animal collections, to experiment construction, public outreach, and more. The ARG team also manages BML’s highly successful oyster hatchery which provides seed for local oyster farms as well as research and restoration. His favorite band is called, fittingly, The Ocean.
Wild Oyster Project on the Radio
Did you catch us on the latest episode of the Bay Curious podcast? If not you can listen to it here: https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious. Special thanks to fellow ostreaphile Joseph Fletcher for asking the question, "Will oysters ever make a comeback in the bay and return to the numbers they had back in the days before the Gold Rush?"
Thank you to KQED and Chloe Veltman for talking with us about the future of wild oysters. We will also be joining Chloe and guest host Rachael Myrow on this Thursday's KQED forum from 9-11 am PT. Listen either digitally at kqed.org, or old-school style on a real radio at KQED 88.5 FM. We are always happy to talk oysters!
Thank you for your encouragement and support. If you like to make a donation to Wild Oyster Project, that would be so appreciated.
