Only ONE more week until the Oyster Pick-up!
There was a good deal of fouling growth on my cages this past week. Here is what I did:
- 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 dry and kill the fouling organisms.
- Set a timer so you don’t forget to put the cages back in the water- it’s easy to get busy and forget.
- Give the cages 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 in the water.
HELP!
If you would be interested in being one of our volunteers to help pick up the oysters, we will gratefully accept your help.
- We have 33 pre-planned routes for the oyster pick-up. So, we need a total of 33 pickup trucks and/or cars with trailers.
- We like to have two people on each pick-up team. Therefor we need a total of 66 volunteers.
- As of Monday, May 20, we have 29 trucks and 50 volunteers.
As a result of our letter last week, our wonderful growers – once again- have stepped up to the plate and have increased the number of trucks and/or trailers from 27 to 29 and increased the number of volunteers from 46 to 50! Thank youfor your help! But still….
- We need 4 more trucks and/or trailers and 16 more volunteers!
With everything we do, we try very hard to it right and have fun while we do it! When it comes to the pick-up and delivery of your oysters, we try to be highly organized. We want to make sure that everything is pre-planned to help ensure that our volunteer’s time is not wasted and that there is not too much work for any one volunteer.
We provide all the tools necessary for the work at hand. We provide written, detailed, pick-up and delivery routes and directions and we provide refreshments for all in attendance. The more volunteers that we have, the more fun it is and as a result there is, of course, less work for each volunteer. If you have a truck or vehicle with a trailer, or are willing to ride with someone, and would like to be one of our “Oyster Chauffers”, please let us know. Please call Julie at 410-822-9143.Julie handles all of the logistics for the pick-up and delivery and does an outstanding job.
TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS – PLEASE SIGN UP!
For our oyster pick-up this year we have 320 growers whose docks we need to visit. Due to the exponential growth of our program over the last eight years, logistics regarding quick and efficient communications with you have become somewhat of a challenge. It would help tremendously if everyone could sign up for text message alerts for Delivery and Pick-up. Simply text the word “oysters” to the following number: 31996. We thank you in advance for helping us with this one small favor.
Reminders:
Oyster Pick-up: CONFIRMED – Friday, May 31
We will begin picking up oysters from our growers at roughly 9:00 am and should be done 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 sanctuary created for us by the State five years ago on the Tred Avon River. Please feel free to join us at Easton Point around 11:00 am to see the oysters before they are planted. Our volunteers thank you, in advance, for all the time and effort you have put in to maintaine 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 store them somewhere on dry land until they are needed when we deliver your next batch of oysters in September.
Oyster Social:Thursday, June 13 at 5:30 pm. By now, you should have received our official save-the-date card. Formal invitations will be mailed to you on May 28. RSVP”s will be required.
Sincerely,
Scott W. Eglseder, Founder
Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef Recovery Initiative