No weeding and hoeing are required. No hours spent watering and fertilizing the crop. Oyster gardeners will not get to eat their crop but they will be helping to restore the Chesapeake Bay's depleted oyster stocks. And that is important because the Bay has lost 99 percent of its oysters since the Civil War, said Bill Goldsborough, a CBF scientist. After the oysters mature, they are moved to protected growing areas where, if all goes well, they will thrive.
Little work is required other than keeping the float clean.
The idea got started in the early '90s, Goldsborough said. Groups such as the Magothy River Association in Maryland have been involved in oyster-growing projects. And in Virginia, more than 400 families along the Rappahannock River are growing oysters with help from the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences and the Rappahannock River Resource Council. Chris Judy, a shellfish biologist with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources, said volunteer programs mesh well with the state's efforts to restore the oyster population in the Bay. This provides an opportunity for residents to get involved in oyster restoration.