Maintenance 10-13-14 to 10-20-14
On Sunday when I checked my oysters, there was a fair amount of growth or “fouling” on my cages. Here’s what you should do for maintenance this week:
- Actively dunk your cages up and down in the water – like steeping a tea bag – to remove the silt and sediment from the oyster shells and “spat”, so that they don’t smother and die.
- Give your cages a quick shake to keep the oysters from growing together.
- Leave the cages on the dock for about an hour so that any growth that has occurred on the cages will dry out and die.
- Set a timer so that you don’t forget to put your oysters back in the water!
- Make sure that the oysters are evenly distributed on the bottom of the cage and put them back in the water.
AVOID USING YOUR HOSE OR POWER WASHER TO CLEAN THE CAGES. The pressure of the hose or power washer can kill the spat.
CRITICAL: Please make sure that your cages NEVER rest on the creek or river bottom. If they do, the oysters can quickly become covered with mud and will smother and die.
That’s it for this week. Please call Kelsey at 410-822-9143 if you have any problems with the maintenance of your cages. Talk to you next week!
Sincerely,
The Oyster Reef Recovery Initiative