tsincla1
Oyster Hatchery Conservation Efforts
This is a photograph I took while on a field trip with my ENST 333 class to Oyster Point Hatchery in Cambridge, Maryland on October 14, 2022. I was blown away by how many of these huge tanks the hatchery had, with so many filled with growing oysters. I will be relating this photograph to SDG 14, the goal whose aim is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (“Conserve and Sustainably Use”). The related ecological concept is the efforts to repopulate declining and ecologically important aquatic populations in the Chesapeake Bay.
One of the interesting facts provided on the UN's page regarding SDG14 is the fact that the increasing acidification is threatening marine life and limiting the ocean's capacity to moderate climate change (“Conserve and Sustainably Use”). The Horn Point Oyster Hatchery is interesting to me in this regard, as they describe themselves as a focal point for Maryland's oyster restoration and research efforts, with numerous partnerships as well (“Oyster Restoration Partners”). Oysters themselves play an important and significant role in the Bay, being that they filter the water, remove suspended particles, and form a hard surface at the bottom of the bay that acts as a habitat for other species (“Oyster Importance”). In other words, they are majorly important in battles against climate change and specifically ocean acidification.
What the hatchery does, aside from spawning the oysters, is study them. They conduct research on the oyster spawning practices and survival rates throughout, to name a couple things. This photo in particular depicts the stage where eyed larvae are attached to shells of other oysters in water-filled outside setting tanks (depicted in the photo) in order to mature into spat. After this stage, they eat algae grown by the hatchery, grow and strengthen their shells (“Follow the Path”). With one of the hatchery's goals being to increase healthy oyster populations throughout the Bay, largely done through finding the best spawning techniques, they really positively contribute to those concepts of both sustainably utilizing marine resources sustainably, as well as repopulating those important organisms within the Bay (“Oyster Importance”). But the most basic yet effective technique that the recite is removing diseased oysters from healthy oysters, which delays chances at infection and disease, while increasing chances at survival (“Oyster Restoration Strategy”).
Since the mid-1900s, virtually all oysters in the Bay have been battling prevalence of disease within their populations. One of the diseases occurs quickly in the beginning of an oyster's life cycle, while the other incubates in the oyster to kill it a year or two later. Monitoring growing of oysters in controlled and disease-free environments greatly assists in monitoring when these diseases onset and taking corrective/ preventative actions accordingly. This is all a part of the efforts to learn more and repopulate this important species in the Bay, in a sustainable and ecologically productive way (“Oyster History”).
Works Cited
“Follow the Path of an Oyster.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 11 May 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/facilities/follow-the-path-of-an-o....
“Goal 14 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations, United Nations, 2022, sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14.
“Oyster History in the Chesapeake Bay.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 8 July 2020, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-history-in-the-chesapeake-bay/.
“Oyster Importance.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 8 July 2020, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-importance/.
“Oyster Restoration Partners.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 3 Mar. 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-restoration-partners/.
“Oyster Restoration Strategy.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 11 May 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-restoration-strategy/.
Oyster Hatchery Conservation Efforts
This is a photograph I took while on a field trip with my ENST 333 class to Oyster Point Hatchery in Cambridge, Maryland on October 14, 2022. I was blown away by how many of these huge tanks the hatchery had, with so many filled with growing oysters. I will be relating this photograph to SDG 14, the goal whose aim is to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development (“Conserve and Sustainably Use”). The related ecological concept is the efforts to repopulate declining and ecologically important aquatic populations in the Chesapeake Bay.
One of the interesting facts provided on the UN's page regarding SDG14 is the fact that the increasing acidification is threatening marine life and limiting the ocean's capacity to moderate climate change (“Conserve and Sustainably Use”). The Horn Point Oyster Hatchery is interesting to me in this regard, as they describe themselves as a focal point for Maryland's oyster restoration and research efforts, with numerous partnerships as well (“Oyster Restoration Partners”). Oysters themselves play an important and significant role in the Bay, being that they filter the water, remove suspended particles, and form a hard surface at the bottom of the bay that acts as a habitat for other species (“Oyster Importance”). In other words, they are majorly important in battles against climate change and specifically ocean acidification.
What the hatchery does, aside from spawning the oysters, is study them. They conduct research on the oyster spawning practices and survival rates throughout, to name a couple things. This photo in particular depicts the stage where eyed larvae are attached to shells of other oysters in water-filled outside setting tanks (depicted in the photo) in order to mature into spat. After this stage, they eat algae grown by the hatchery, grow and strengthen their shells (“Follow the Path”). With one of the hatchery's goals being to increase healthy oyster populations throughout the Bay, largely done through finding the best spawning techniques, they really positively contribute to those concepts of both sustainably utilizing marine resources sustainably, as well as repopulating those important organisms within the Bay (“Oyster Importance”). But the most basic yet effective technique that the recite is removing diseased oysters from healthy oysters, which delays chances at infection and disease, while increasing chances at survival (“Oyster Restoration Strategy”).
Since the mid-1900s, virtually all oysters in the Bay have been battling prevalence of disease within their populations. One of the diseases occurs quickly in the beginning of an oyster's life cycle, while the other incubates in the oyster to kill it a year or two later. Monitoring growing of oysters in controlled and disease-free environments greatly assists in monitoring when these diseases onset and taking corrective/ preventative actions accordingly. This is all a part of the efforts to learn more and repopulate this important species in the Bay, in a sustainable and ecologically productive way (“Oyster History”).
Works Cited
“Follow the Path of an Oyster.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 11 May 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/facilities/follow-the-path-of-an-o....
“Goal 14 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs.” United Nations, United Nations, 2022, sdgs.un.org/goals/goal14.
“Oyster History in the Chesapeake Bay.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 8 July 2020, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-history-in-the-chesapeake-bay/.
“Oyster Importance.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 8 July 2020, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-importance/.
“Oyster Restoration Partners.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 3 Mar. 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-restoration-partners/.
“Oyster Restoration Strategy.” Horn Point Oyster Hatchery, 11 May 2021, hatchery.hpl.umces.edu/oyster-restoration-strategy/.