Support MOP with fine jewelry for Mom for Mother's Day!

Treasure Bay Designs is producing a special bracelet for MOP. It consists of fresh water pearls with one chalcedony bead in honor of fresh water.

The bracelet retails for $25 with $5 going to MOP.

The bracelet may be purchased by emailing  Theresa@tbd.us.com or through the following retail establishments:

Five Crows Gallery – 8 Court Street, Natick, MA

Designs by S&R – 85 Route 6A, Orleans, MA

First look at the oysters in 2010!

Divers will hit the water on May 2nd to check out the oysters and bring up some samples to study further.
Stop by around noon time to see the oysters out of the water before we put them back.
Volunteers are needed from 11am onward to measure and document oysters. Dive volunteers are also welcome, we meet at 10am.
contact us

Oysters and Nitrogen Removal, Oyster Event, Volunteer Opportunity May 2

Oysters and Nitrogen Removal Poster
Last week we presented a poster at the 7th Annual Massachusetts Water Resources Conference at UMass Amherst. Our poster was entitled “Exploration of the Cost-Effectiveness of Using Oysters for Nitrogen Removal From Wastewater Relative to the Cost of Constructing Incremental Wastewater Treatment Plant Capacity.” It discusses a model that indicates that oysters could be a cost-effective alternative for removing nitrogen from waste-water vis-à-vis the construct of incremental waste treatment capacity. The financial model is in its first iteration and needs to be refined, however the outcomes are encouraging. You can see a Powerpoint Summary of it here. It already has 75 views!

It was a terrific learning experience. Interestingly, we learned of a vineyard on the cape that spreads oyster shells on the ground to reduce acidity of the soil. They could be a tool to help off-set growing acidity in the oceans. There also was a poster from a group that is using oyster shells as a catalyst for breaking down toxins at a military base on the cape.


Oyster Event
The Oyster Event at Tavern on the Water was well attended considering the chilly weather. The crowd enjoyed delicious Island Creek Oysters, a shucking competition and a nice evening soaking up the wonderful views of the Boston skyline. For pictures of the event you can visit our Oyster Event Photo Album.

Upcoming Conference Presentation
We also will be presenting an overview of our project next week at the 66th Annual Northeast Fish and Wildlife Conference at the Newton Marriott. We could have some new data/observations to present as the Harbormasters divers may make a traininig dive on the oysters this week. In any case attending events such as this is a good way to reach out to other environmentally minded groups and professionals. You can learn more by visiting the Conference Site.

Save the Date May 2- Volunteers needed
Our divers will be going down to check on the oysters on May 2, we need several volunteers to support them by handling and measuring the oysters.

Oyster shell recycling from restaurants in Maryland

One of our volunteers sent in this link to a news story where restaurants are saving their oyster shells for use in restoring oysters to the Chesapeake. Oyster shell provides a medium for the very young free floating oyster spat to latch on to. (One of the ways we check for reproduction is by hanging shell near our oysters to see if we are getting spat settlement.) There is some suspicion that the Chesapeake may be suffering from a lack of this shell medium as spat may not find a place to settle.

MOP is a ways from developing such a program as part of our oyster restoration effots, but with the initiative of Rob, we are beginning to explore this idea with various regulatory authorities. Oyster Shell Recycling Program