Aquaculture is the commercial farming of aquatic animals. These animals can be used for farm to market or restoration purposes.

Oyster gardening is the non-commercial farming of oysters for the purpose of restoration.

Check out our Get Involved page. All of our partnering organizations with active oyster gardening programs can be found there. If your organization would like to start an oyster gardening program, please reach out to Christina (cml369@cornell.edu).

All volunteers, including the host organization, will need to participate in training courses with CCE Nassau. Training will include hands-on learning activities as well as presentations. Once training has been completed the real fun begins when you receive spat-on-shell.

A juvenile oyster is called a spat. Spat can be single set for market or spat can be set on shell for restoration purposes. In our case, we will be using spat-on-shell to form oyster clusters (min reefs) that will be used for restoration.

You should be able to lift at least 30lbs. and be able to work outdoors for extended periods of time. As the spat grow into adult oysters, they will become heavier.

Oyster garden cages should be cleaned at minimum every 2 weeks. This prevents excess fouling of the gear and prevents predators from being in the cages.

Prime oyster gardening season is during the summer. To avoid too much heat and direct sunlight on the oysters, it would be best to schedule cleaning sessions in the morning or evening hours. Rember to always wear sun protection. If there in thunder or lightning, you might want to consider rescheduling your cleaning session.

At the end of the season the average shell height of the oysters should be a minimum of 25mm (1in). At this time CCE Nassau staff will deploy the grown oysters to oyster sanctuaries. Harvesting is prohibited in these sanctuaries which will allow population growth and expansion. Garden cages should be scrubbed completely clean, so they are ready for the next oyster gardening season.

All additional questions should be emailed to Christina, CCE Nassau Aquaculture Educator.

Email: cml369@cornell.edu