The Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an iconic food and cultural resource in the Mobile Bay. As an important indicator of the health of the Bay, oysters form reefs that provide habitat for other estuarine species, reduce long-term erosion of the shoreline, and filter pollutants from the water itself. A single oyster can remove harmful nitrogen and sediments from approximately ten gallons of water per day. Unfortunately, local populations of the Eastern oyster continue to dramatically decline due to both human and environmental impacts, and it is estimated that over 80% of Mobile Bay’s oyster populations have decreased since 1950 according to commercial landings data.
What we do to resolve this issue:
The Oyster Garden Program is a key component of Mobile Baykeeper’s Oyster Restoration Initiative and will help us achieve our goal of growing one million oysters by 2027. By engaging local private homeowners in oyster restoration activities, the Oyster Garden Program enables us to strengthen community bonds and instill a sense of pride and ownership in protecting and preserving our natural resources while also contributing the overall biodiversity and ecological resilience of Mobile Bay.
Each garden consists of ten cages containing fifty recycled oyster shells per cage. Every recycled oyster shell in the cage is inoculated with 20-40 oyster spat (i.e., baby oysters) and each cage has the potential to grow up to 1,000 oysters over the course of its six-month growing season in a garden. During this growing season, the oysters may require separation into additional cages meaning that, over time, as many as 20+ cages may be hung on each dock. In total, each garden can grow as many as 10,000 oysters for placement in habitat in Mobile Bay. Importantly, Mobile Baykeeper’s staff and AmeriCorps team members complete all maintenance activities required to grow the oysters, thus removing the burden of physically taxing and time-consuming activities from homeowners.
In 2023, Mobile Baykeeper ran a pilot program with four oyster gardens located on Dauphin Island and on Bon Secour Bay. These pilot gardens grew approximately 40,000 oysters for placement in the Bay. With a goal of growing 500,000 oysters over a five-year period through the program, the remaining oysters will be grown through an aggressive but targeted plan to incrementally recruit and then retain oyster garden participants in both Mobile and Baldwin Counties from 2024-2027.
