Oysters are a big part of our local ecology and found throughout various pockets along the northern Gulf of Mexico Estuaries and bayous. Interested participants can receive 75 juvenile oyster spats and begin the grow-out cycle again. Adult oysters will be measured and weighed before being installed in a living shoreline project within the same water body. Oysters will be grown out in cages for 9-12 months and returned for measurements. Participants will receive an oyster cage, 75 oysters, a rain gauge, logbook, instructions about caring for the oysters, how to clean and maintain their cage, and a point of contact. This will provide basic information on setting up and maintaining oysters under the best possible condition for your location. Interested homeowners, individuals, or people wishing to sponsor a class or student must attend a 3-hour workshop. Students and citizen volunteers will collect and gather data to assist us with the project. The project is based on the Oyster Gardening for Restoration and Education courses developed by the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance. The cages will be provided along with 75 oysters which will be counted, weighed, and measured before deployment. We will place oyster cages on private docks throughout the smaller bayous within the Pensacola Bay System. The fewer the algae, the more oxygen available for marine life. Oysters can remove nitrogen from the water like sheep grazing down a meadow. The decay process consumes oxygen, leaving the water with too little oxygen to support fish and other marine life. When it dies and falls to the bottom, it decays. Nutrient runoff, such as nitrogen, increases the growth of algae. Oysters can play a big role in improving our local waters. Examples of pollution from runoff include oil and gas from vehicles, metals from car brakes, detergents, or lawn care chemicals to name a few. When landscape changes from rural areas such as the Blackwater River State Forest to an urban area (such as downtown Pensacola), the quality of the runoff after rain events shifts from healthy (natural filtration through leaves and sand) to an impaired stormwater runoff which enters our creeks, bayous and bays after each rain event. Water quality in coastal estuaries, bayous, creeks, and bays is not as healthy as it once was, mainly due to changes in the landscape.
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