Virginia Grants Boost Oyster Farming

Rich Harding pulls an oyster shell from a 3,000-gallon tank on the shore at Purcell’s Seafood on the Little Wicomico River. Counting more than a dozen oyster spat, he passes the shell to Karen Hudson, aquaculture specialist from Marine Advisory Services of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

Marine Advisory Services provides technical assistance and grants to the seafood industry. Many of the Fisheries Resource Grants have helped oyster growers and hatcheries in Virginia explore ways to expand the season, reduce labor costs and improve profits.

Some of the oysters processed at Purcell’s are grown using hatchery-raised oyster larvae that strike on clean shells in onshore tanks and are then moved to his leased oyster grounds, a technique called “spat-on-shell.” For the next two years, the oysters will grow to harvest size.

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