Typical Aquaculture and Harvest Practices

www.fao.org

www.fao.org

Typical harvesting of oysters stems from the need to cultivate a suitable environment. Specifically along the Washington coast, suitable conditions do not necessarily exist to sustain young oysters as they develop, causing a greater mortality in young oysters. However, the natural up welling near Washington’s coast aids the industry once the oysters have developed a hard substrate and begin to mature. Nurseries to propagate young oyster are becoming more mundane as these provide a more controlled environment to help the eggs grow into larvae until they begin to mature. Once these oysters being to mature, they are often strung from bags from which they finish growing in inter tidal or sub tidal areas, depending on the species, to fully mature oysters. Once the oysters are fully matured, they are laid along the beach to finish growing to a desirable size, typically from several months to,in some cases, years. The time in which the oysters are strung along the tides and laid upon the sub tidal area is when the oyster is most susceptible to the natural conditions of the area.