The Oyster is Your World

As the off-bottom oyster aquaculture industry expands, there is an increasing need for skilled employees. Workers should be trained in oyster production and husbandry, but also record keeping, boating, and handling of product to ensure consumer safety. Most of these skills are learned best through hands-on training. This makes the oyster industry an ideal target for workforce development programs that offer funding for on-farm training of apprentices.


In 2023, the Commercial Oyster Aquaculture Sector Training (COAST) program was initiated in the northern Gulf of Mexico. This program is a workforce development initiative aimed to recruit workers to the oyster aquaculture industry and provide them with training to meet industry demand. The current two-year funding cycle allows for the teaching of 5 apprentices per year in various aspects of oyster farming, including production and rearing, business management, food safety, and serving. Participating businesses from Alabama and Mississippi receive a portion of the apprentice's wages to support training efforts.


One benefit of this program is its flexibility, allowing the farm to select their own apprentice, determine the number of hours that person works each week, and identify areas of training needed for their business. Assessments to date indicate all farms and apprentices would be interested in continued participation in COAST. Suggestions include providing more funding to allow apprentices to dedicate themselves to the industry full time, as well as some formal training outside of the on-farm duties.


This presentation will provide a one-and-a-half-year update on the COAST program, including plans for program development and enhancement, general logistics, business and apprentice recruitment, an update on participants, and challenges encountered.

The Eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, has long been a cornerstone of the Mississippi seafood industry, supporting the livelihoods of generations of Gulf Coast fishermen. However, over the past two decades, Mississippi's natural oyster populations have significantly declined due to a combination of natural and man-made disasters. In response, the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) has sought various strategies to restore both the state's commercial oyster fishery and the ecological benefits provided by these oyster reefs.
One key initiative developed by the MDMR is the "Off-Bottom Oyster Aquaculture Program (OBOA)." This two-phase training program is designed to educate prospective and current commercial oyster harvesters in the fundamentals of off-bottom oyster farming. Phase one of the OBOA program includes classroom instruction and field demonstrations of off-bottom aquaculture techniques and equipment. Participants learn how to deploy and manage approximately 10,000 oysters using MDMR-provided equipment such as cages, bags, and tube tumblers. Phase two focuses on business development, inventory control, and regulatory compliance related to harvesting. Upon completing the training, participants are eligible to harvest their oysters and can apply for two 1-acre plots for cultivation. 
Currently, Mississippi's off-bottom oyster aquaculture efforts are located south of Deer Island. In 2018, MDMR subleased 27 acres to 14 individuals, with the inaugural harvest occurring on April 9, 2019. The success of the program led to an expansion in available lease acreage from 2018 to 2021 resulting in a total of 466 acres permitted for commercial oyster farming. As of 2024, 70 acres are subleased to 46 farmers. These operations have harvested 1,497,638 oysters, which is equivalent to 5,446 sacks.

Over the last decade, a number of commercial off-bottom oyster farms have been established in Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Though new to the region and relatively small-scale, these oyster farms have experienced the potential for off-bottom oyster farming in the Gulf of Mexico. These businesses have also found that there are significant challenges in owning and operating a successful and resilient business that produces premium oysters for the half-shell market. Specifically, the industry faces challenges with regards to increasing production efficiency, maintaining product quality and consistency, assuring product safety, disaster preparation, permitting and marketing. 
In recent years, the industry has experienced everything from high mortality, hurricanes, significant environmental events to an epidemic which closed restaurants for an extended period of time. To increase the opportunity for success workshops and tools have been provided such as the Oyster Farming Resilience Index (OFRI) was developed recently by a team at the Mississippi Alabama Sea Grant Consortium (MASGC). The OFRI is a self-assessment tool developed for oyster farmers to serve as a simple and inexpensive method of predicting if individual businesses are prepared to maintain operations during and after disasters. Understanding the business fundamentals necessary to operate a successful commercial oyster farm is essential especially for those that have not operated a business before.
This presentation will cover the major topics and some of the resources available for establishing and sustaining a commercial farm and provide information for those that would like to learn more or just to have a better understanding of what is involved.

In 2019, the Bonnet Carré spillway had the longest opening since its construction. This historical flooding event led to a decrease in salinity within the Mississippi Sound that persisted until mid-July, a period typically showing high levels of oyster spawning. Mississippi oyster reefs lost approximately 96.9% of oysters in the western MS Sound and about 63.8% in the eastern MS Sound. While the loss of a major commercial fishery is cause for concern, the other long-term effects must be considered as well. Oyster reefs provide habitat for many marine species and coastal protection from storm surge and erosion. The structure and stability of these reefs combat natural degradation with the recruitment of new individuals from annual spawning. Reef assessments performed in the subsequent years showed minimal recruitment of oyster spat to reefs which triggered the development of a spat settlement and recruitment monitoring program.
The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources (MDMR) pinpointed multiple sites within state waters that historically showed high numbers of spat settlement to observe the spatial-temporal variation in oyster reef recruitment after a catastrophic fishery disaster. Preliminary results from 2022 and 2023 show a significant increase in spat across all sites. Through this project, the MDMR aims to determine localized oyster settlement trends and understand the driving factors of survival for oyster reefs when faced with natural and man-made disasters. These findings will improve the effectiveness of oyster restoration along the Mississippi Coast.

Oyster South's core mission (as a charitable organization) is to connect communities and provide resources to support oyster farmers, cultivate thriving communities, promote healthy waters and celebrate good food in the southern United States. In outreach efforts, Oyster South highlights the impressive quality of oysters produced in the southern US, but also brings attention to the positive economic, environmental, and cultural benefits of sustainable oyster farming in the southern United States. Oyster South works with industry, academia, hospitality, and the general public, and fosters strong relationships with industry associations around the US. 
Specifically, Oyster South creates the space for people to build and energize creative partnerships and collaborations – including but not limited to our annual Industry Symposium and LANDLOCKED fundraiser in Decatur, GA. In addition, we have continued the Peer to Pier travel program initially supported by National Sea Grant years ago, which allows industry members to travel to and learn from their peers. With Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) funding, we continue to conduct front-of-the-house server trainings across the country to help servers be more knowledgeable about farm-raised oysters when answering customer questions. Current fundraising efforts are aimed at supporting efforts to help 'tell the stories' of southern oyster aquaculture.