Maintenance 6-2-14 to 6-5-14
Less than a week to go!!
There was a good deal of fouling growth on my cages this past week.
Here is what I did:
- After dunking the cages up and down in the water to remove the past week’s accumulated silt and sediment from the oysters, I used an old wet terry kitchen towel to wipe off the growth from the outside of the cages. Then I dunked the cages in the water to wash off the loosened growth. This took about one minute per cage and worked very well.
- I set a timer for 60 minutes to let the Sun and breeze dry out and kill the remaining growth.
- I gave the cages a good shake and made sure that the oysters were spread out evenly on the bottom of the cages before I put them back in the water.
OYSTER PICK-UP IS THIS THURSDAY!! Our volunteers will be picking up your oysters this Thursday, June the 5th. We will begin picking up oysters from our growers at roughly 9 a.m. and should be done by about noon. While it is not an absolute necessity for you to be there when we arrive, we do prefer for you to be there if you can. Our volunteers will initially meet here at my office on Commerce Drive and will deliver your oysters to Easton Point where they will be transported by boat to a newly created sanctuary (by the State just for us!) on the Tred Avon River. Please feel free to join us at Easton Point around 11 a.m. to see all of the oysters before they are planted. Our volunteers thank you, in advance, for all of the time and effort you have put in to maintain your cages. It makes their jobs much, much easier!
OUR VOLUNTEERS WILL BE LEAVING YOUR CAGES ON YOUR DOCK WHEN THEY ARE DONE. From there, you can do a final, thorough cleaning of the cages and either leave them on the dock or move them somewhere on dry land until they are needed when we deliver your next batch of oysters in September.
OYSTER SOCIAL: You should have received an invitation to our 3rd Annual Oyster Social to be held next Thursday, June the 12th at The Tidewater Inn. This is our way of saying thank you for your participation and it also affords you the opportunity to bring a friend or neighbor who might be interested in becoming a grower!
I hope to see most of you in the next several weeks. If you have any questions, please call Kelsey at 410-822-9143.
Sincerely,
The Oyster Reef Recovery Initiative