Friday, October 26, 2012

Shell Recycling Wellfleet-




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oyster restoration oyster shell recycling
Curt Felix and oyster shell to be recycled into the water

It has been a busy few weeks for Mass Oyster, finishing up with an exciting weekend at the Wellfleet Oysterfest. Above we have a photo of Curt Felix in among the shell to be recycled. It was an impressive site and it is back in the water. The program is well organized and impressive. Below are some statistics.
  • ·        96% recycle rate up from 77% in 2011 
    ·         Nearly 600,000 spat back in the water this year or for every oyster eaten about 6 returned to the water
    ·         Over 1 million spat returned to the water due to Commonwealth waiver the last 2 years!!!
    ·         Future habitat will produce millions of oysters
    ·         50 million gallons per day of increased water filtration
    ·         Connected reef now established along condo shoreline will armor and protect against erosion and prevent filling after harbor dredging
    ·         Shell recycling removed 43% from the solid waste stream at Oysterfest

Many of the shells had multiple spat on the surface that were still vital. By returning them to the estuary we give those spat a chance to grow, filter water and eventually reproduce themselves.

oyster restoration shell with spat to be recycled
Oyster shell with spat attached.



Our booth was well-staffed with a new innovation of a tent for the rains on Sunday morning. We had strong traffic made many new friends and even sold out of certain t-shirt designs.
Theresa Baybutt in the booth with our new banners.

The popular oyster/lobster cut-out was well used by the thousands of people who attended.

oyster lobster cutout
Wellfleet Oysterfest Attendees momentarily become an oyster and a lobster

    Tuesday, October 9, 2012

    Tour the Newburyport Shellfish Purification Plant

    On Saturday November 10th at 10:30 MOP will be sponsoring a tour of the Newburyport Shellfish Purification Plant with a specially scheduled tour given by staff of the Division of Marine Fisheries. The plant has a natural salt water spring and the flow is used to cleanse steamer clams that are harvested from waters of questionable cleanliness. After depuration they are safe to eat.

    We will meet at the plant, which is located at 84 82nd Street in Newburyport.

    The tour is limited to the first 24 people to respond. To reserve a spot send and email to reservation email. 

    Please note that if there are heavy rains in the days preceding the 10th, shellfish harvesting in marginal beds may be closed. In that case with little shellfish to see, we would postpone the trip until Saturday the 17th at the same time.


    Steamer clam
    Steamer clam fresh from the shore.

    Monday, October 8, 2012

    Busy Weekend Supporting Oyster Restoration

    Busy Weekend Supporting Oyster Restoration

    On Saturday MOP was active at the Boston Seafood Festival working with Pangea shellfish to recycle about 75 gallons of oyster shell. This will be moved to our East Boston aging facility. Shown below is volunteer Jake Levy a student at Saint Sebastian's who helped move the shell. 


    Oyster Restoration Volunteer Jake with bucker
    Jake puts out one of the buckets to accept shell for recycling.
    The event was held to support the Boston Fisheries Foundation an organization has several objectives to supporting the Boston Seafood industry.


    • Support and expand sustainable fisheries, which in turn sustain the New England economy;
    • Educate the media and the public about the role played by fishermen in preserving our wild ocean stocks through responsible harvesting and management;
    • Educate the media and the public about the benefits of sustainably harvested seafood as high-quality nutrition whose production protects the environment from deforestation, global warming, and other negative impacts;
    • Facilitate public awareness of our history and the importance of wild harvests to the proud traditions of an independent New England; and,
    • Develop a Maritime Fisheries Museum to honor our heritage.
    We also addressed the large crowd there to watch the shucking competition. Which was something to behold. Working with knives the competitors hands flew like those of famous drummer Buddy Rich as they rapidly opened the bivalves.


    oyster restoration highlighted at shuckiong competition
    Amazing oyster shucking competition at the Boston Seafood Festival
    Our brief talk mentioned a few points.

    1. Oyster reefs area n important estuarine habitat.
    2. 75% of the commercial seafood catch comes directly from or passes a portion of its lifecycle through estuaries. 
    3. 100 other species will live in an oyster reef. 
    4. By supporting oyster restoration, we are creating habitat and supporting the global seafood industry.

    We also helped out shucking oysters at the Pangea booth.

    On Sunday we held our annual oyster/beer-tasting event at Plymouth's Mayflower Brewery and had a terrific turnout as we dined on oysters from Big Rock oyster company and enjoyed the fine assortment of craft beers.


    Oyster restoration supporters sell merchandise.
    Josh and Duxbury resident Bill Goodell moved the merchandise.
    Oyster Restoration Fundraiser
    Mayflower's Sarah Richardson did an awesome job on the taps.

    Imagine Island and Mass Oyster Project
    Imagination Island Staff model hats for the Massachusetts Oyster Project

    The staff at Imagination Island provided an excellent environment for kids to play. We even picked up a a few Mom's and Dad's who came over from a birthday party. 

    We also saved an additional 20 gallons of oyster shell for recycling. 


    Next Weekend- Wellfleet Oyster Festival

    We will have a booth at the Welllfleet Oyster Festival next weekend. Do stop by and introduce yourself, or pick up one of our new T-shirts that are sporting our new logo. We are migrating to a new logo.


    Welcome New Mass Oyster Project Board member Aaron Hankowski


    Oyster Restoration Supporter Aaron Hankowski
    Aaron Hankowski  Mass Oyster Project Board Member





    Aaron Hankowski - Aaron resides in Boston's South End neighborhood. Aaron works for a Boston based Marketing Strategy Consulting firm; helping business owners of performance-driven companies create brands, products and experiences that their customers love.


    Interesting Presentation on Oyster Restoration in New York.  (Massachusetts is so far behind.)