OGRE alumni in the field extol the ecological benefits of oyster farming

Patricio, Melissa A.

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DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger9-22-2014Oysters, Oysters EverywhereMelissa A. PatricioRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationPatricio, Melissa A., "Oysters, Oysters Everywhere" (2014). Featured News Story. 431.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/431 News ArchiveOysters, Oysters EverywhereOGRE alumni in the  eld extol the ecological bene ts of oyster farmingHannah Pearson '13, "hatchery guru," with bags of her adult oysterson the Island Creek Oyster Farm.September 22, 2014 Melissa A. PatricioBRISTOL, R.I. – It’s been just two years since Hannah Pearson ’13 le  the Luther Blount Shell shHatchery at RWU, but she has waded into familiar territory just an hour north at the Island Creek OysterFarm in Duxbury, Mass.As shell sh hatchery manager, Pearson spends her days in “The Treehouse” – a multi-level aquaculturelab created in a warehouse adjacent to the Duxbury Harbor. (Think your cubicle, but way cooler.) It’shere that Pearson raises her “babies”: 100 million oyster eggs — 12 miilion of which became matureenough this season to go from farm to fork via Island Creek’s wholesale market.But Pearson’s is not your typical Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 job. For 10 months of the year, she is atthe beck and call of the baby oysters, cleaning and feeding them.“A lot of it has to do with timing,” Pearson says. “If you don’t use the algae in the right amount of time, itwill start to die. I can’t keep the oysters in a 5-gallon tank for too long because it’s too crowded forthem to survive. From January to July, I’m working every single day. Animals need to be taken care ofevery day – they don’t take Saturdays and Sundays o . But I’m used to it, and I love it.”Because all of the water used in the hatchery’s 2,500-gallon tank is drawn from the bay, Pearson isreliant on the tide charts – meaning that if high tide is at 1:00 a.m., Pearson will be at the hatchery to  llthe tank.“At times I have 100 million babies I’m taking care of,” she says. “It’s challenging, but at the same timethose babies need to be fed and it’s rewarding to see them growing and succeeding.”Also rewarding? The environmental bene ts of oyster farming, Pearson says.“The whole process of growing an oyster from day one when they’re eggs is environmentally friendly,”she says. “There is no waste in the production. We produce no emissions, and in my hatchery I only usea small amount of electricity. It’s a very sustainable process, because we let the ocean do the work forus – that’s the way you’re going to get a good looking oyster, and there’s no harm to anyone.”Like Pearson, Ryan Rezendes ’14 is also operating a commercial oyster farm – but while Pearson israising her oysters for human consumption, Rezendes is raising his 2 million oysters to  lter the water.The two worked together on the RWU Oyster Gardening Restoration and Enhancement (OGRE)program (each earning President's Core Values Medallions at their respective graduations) andRezendes now spends his days in Falmouth, Mass., where he is the shell sh manager and biologist atLittle Pond. The pond, which was once swimmable, has been plagued with water quality issues foryears.Rezendes is leading a pilot study with the Department of Marine and Environment to evaluate how wellthe oysters can clean the water. Just halfway into the three-year study, Rezendes reports that waterclarity is markedly improved and neighbors say they can now see the bottom of the pond.   “The neighbors love the project, for the most part,” Rezendes notes. “That came as a bit of a surprise. Alot of places in Rhode Island oppose oyster farmers in their backyards. These folks see it as a win-win,and understand that it will help clean up their water.”Both Pearson and Rezendes credit Associate Professor Dale Leavitt and their training at the RWUhatchery for helping them land jobs almost immediately upon graduation – and for providing them witha solid scienti c foundation to apply to oyster aquaculture in the  eld.“It’s been great working with the farmers here, explaining to them the process,” Pearson says. “Thereare no other scientists here. They have hatchery experience, but never knew the science behind it. Ihave my knowledge from Roger Williams, they have their knowledge from messing around withhatchery work for years – together it’s a lot of collaborating, putting ideas together and making thingshappen.”For his part, Rezendes enjoys being out in his “o ce” – a ra  he built in the middle of Little Pond – andsplits his time between the pond and the lab, where he’s documenting all of the data he tracks on hisoysters. He frequently brings some of Leavitt’s students out to the pond to work alongside him, andenjoys teaching anyone who wants to learn the ins and outs of oyster aquaculture. He is currently intalks with graduate programs from Boston to Tasmania, which is the world leader in oyster farmingaccording to Rezendes.“Oyster aquaculture in Rhode Island has exploded over the past decade or so, up 15 percent eachyear. It’s really taken o ,” he says. “But in Tasmania and Australia as a whole, the operations are massiveand far more developed – and it’s an environmentally friendly business.”Ultimately, Rezendes says he would like to travel to developing countries and help to implementvaluable shell sh farming methods and establish aquaculture practices that could supply viable proteinsources. Pearson plans to stay on with Island Creek for the foreseeable future, both in her hatchery and out onthe farm, which has given her an even deeper appreciation of her bivalve babies:“My favorite thing about oysters is that every single one is di erent,” she says. “At the microscopic levelin the hatchery, you don’t see that – they’re all the same size and same color. On the farm, we gothrough about 25,000 oysters a week that we then sell. Touching every single one, measuring them,sorting them, you get to know how di erent they really are.”And, she says, they are perfectionists.“All oysters want to grow into perfect oysters,” Pearson says. “The funny looking ones get thrown backinto the water for a few months, and will correct themselves into a perfect shell – straight out from thehinge, a deep dome shape and a really nice beveled shell.”Talented and tasty – a winning combination for ponds and plates everywhere! 

Oysters, Oysters Everywhere

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