University researchers from Auburn and Louisiana State University are studying a different way of growing oysters that they hope the Gulf of Mexico oyster industry will adopt to supplement the traditional harvest.
The method is called off-bottom oyster farming where oysters are grown in mesh bags strung between posts instead of being harvested from reefs on the sea floor.
The system is already used to grow oysters commercially in Australia,
Researchers say the oyster farming technique could boost the harvest and create new jobs as well as allow the continued production of a safe, sustainable domestic oyster supply.
Off-bottom farming also protects oysters from predators and allows complete harvests of planted oyster seed.
Oystermen along the gulf coast have expressed a greater interest at looking at the process since the Gulf oil spill.
A test program is currently being done in Louisiana and Mississippi and series of workshops are planned during 2011 and 2012 to talk with the industry about the new technique.
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