Oyster Gardening Introduction Part 1

These oyster shell bags are used for a project called oyster gardening, where volunteers raise oysters off their piers and docks using these bags.

The bags are filled with oyster larvae and the larvae will attach to the shells in the bag. Over time, thousands of oysters will grow in one bag.

Oyster gardening is used for restoration projects and for raising oysters to be planted in other areas.

The adult oyster shells are divided into about 25 shells per garden, and each garden contains small oysters or spat.

The bags are suspended about a foot off the bottom to protect the young oysters from predators and other critters.

The oyster gardening program is a volunteer-based program, with support from partner agencies such as the Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Mobile Bay National Estuary Program, and Auburn University Shellfish Lab.