oyster farming

There are two types of oyster farming: suspension culture, in which oysters are grown off bottom, in floating trays, is a labor-intensive form of cultivation that requires continuous tending and cleaning of both gear and shellfish, and bottom culture, which is similar to conventional crop farming on land; it involves selecting areas of the sea floor that provide a natural food supply, necessary currents, minimum exposure to predators, and proper temperature and then seeding the bottom with shellfish stock that are left to grow to market size. Then they are harvested with a bottom drag from a boat. Both suspension culture and bottom ulture depend on natural food supplies for growing the shellfish being raised. (Source: MSTF)