Nursery Propagation Methods

http://www.baycenterfarms.com

Bay Center Farms in Willapa Bay, Washington lays out a clear procedure on how they raise oysters and  reflects the common methodologies of the Pacific Northwest.

The farmers will put around 250 shells in each mesh bag which has around 15 spat per shell. The bags will then be placed on intertidal flats so the baby oysters can grow. They will remain here until spring planting. The bags are used to keep the oysters safe and to guard them from being suffocated by mud.

The oysters have now been growing in their protected intertidal zone for the past 7-9 months. The famers will then take dredges out in to the water to harvest the oysters.They can haul up to 500-1000 bags of oysters with the young growing on the shells. The bags are then emptied and the oysters get ready to moved the bed for them to finish growing for the next two years.