Water temperatures are rising….
…and with that has arrived the increased growth of fouling organisms on the cages. In the past two weeks, there was more accumulated growth on my cages than the prior three weeks combined! There was also quite a bit of silt and sediment on my oysters.
Here’s what you should do this week:
- Actively dunk each cage up and down in the water to remove accumulated silt and sediment.
- Leave the cages on the dock for about 90 minutes to let the sun and wind do the work of drying out and killing the fouling organisms on your cages.
- SAVED BY THE TIMER! Please remember to set an alarm or timer so that you don’t forget to put your oysters back in the water. I pulled my oysters up, went back to the house and was very bury cleaning up the yard….if it weren’t for the timer on my phone, it would have been curtains for my oysters!!
- Give the cage a good shake to keep the oysters from growing together and make sure the oysters are evenly distributed on the bottom of the cage before you put them back in the water.
Reminders:
Oyster Pick-Up: Thursday, May 31 will be the pick up date for your oysters.
Oyster Social: Thursday, June the 13that 5:30 p.m. The location is being finalized. Formal invitations will be sent out late next month.
Thank you for your time and participation. Until next week….
Sincerely,
Scott W. Eglseder, Founder
Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Recovery Initiative