Gardening for oysters in Mobile Bay

MOBILE, Ala. - It's a different kind of gardening. Growing something salty, slimy, and encased in a hard shell. We're talking about oysters and Saturday volunteers picked up spat around Mobile Bay. That's the small oysters to start their gardens.

WHY GARDEN OYSTERS?

Over the last decade, storms have ravaged the Gulf Coast.The damage hasn't been limited to the land. Under the waves, oyster beds have been scoured and buried. Extension Specialist, PJ Waters said, " These sites have been degraded through storm damage, sedimentation, and other factors."

Waters told us, our local waters need the filtering power of the tasty bi-valves. So he's called upon volunteers to "garden" spat. " They're picking up their juvenile oysters or spat. " Waters said. " They take them back to their location where they're growing them in cages and grow them for the season."

Tended regularly the caged oysters grow safely to adulthood.

" At the end of the season in November when we pick up these oysters from our growers we'll take them and plant them on different reef sites that we've identified." Waters said. " The population of those reefs are down. So by protecting these oysters for a period of time we give them a better chance of survival out on the reefs."

Even small numbers make a big difference, because just one female oyster can produce 100 million eggs every year.

WANT TO TRY YOUR LUCK

If you would like to try your luck with oyster gardening call Waters at 251-438-5690 or go to this website: www.mobilebaynep.com/oystergardening.