October 11-3-14 to 11-9-14 Oyster Cage Maintenance Letter

Maintenance 11-3-14 to 11-9-14

“They’re beginning to look a lot like oysters!”My “spat” really began to take on the shape of an oyster shell this past week. Once again, due to falling water temperatures, there was very little fouling or growth on my cages.

Here’s what you should do for maintenance this week:

1. Actively dunk your cages up and down in the water to remove silt and sediment from the “spat”.
2. Give your cages a quick shake to keep your oysters from growing together.
3. Leave your cages on your dock for an hour or so to let last week’s growth dry out and die.
4. Set a timer so that you don’t forget to put your oysters back in the water!
5. Make sure your oysters are evenly distributed on the bottom of the cage and put them back in the water.

Please make sure that your cages never rest on the creek or river bottom. The oysters will quickly become smothered in mud 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

P.S. If you would like to have a sign for your dock indicating that you are participating in the Marylander’s Grow Oysters program (see the picture to the right to see what it looks like) please give Kelsey a call and she can make arrangements for you to stop by the office and pick one up!