Cool Oysters, Warm Thanks!
What's cool on a hot summer day? OYSTERS! Shored Up, a local ecotour business, grew 605 Oysters at The Docks at Downtown Hampton this past year! Their effort, along with the efforts of two other citizen oyster gardeners, Debbie Arenius and Carolyn Pretell, resulted in a total of 1,457 oysters grown as part of Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s ongoing oyster restoration efforts. Given that each oyster has the potential to filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, that means the oysters grown can filter up to 72,850 gallons of water PER DAY! Pretty cool considering this was the inaugural year for this Downtown Hampton location!
The future looks even brighter, too, as two other Hampton businesses, Sam Rust Seafood and Less Than will be joining us to help grow oysters!
Sam Rust Seafood, a local 4th generation seafood business, also helps oyster restoration by hosting a shell recycling bin at their Hampton facility. This bin is a crucial part of oyster and Bay stewardship.
Less Than, a “Zero waste and Refill Shop” that sells planet-friendly products will also join the oyster restoration effort at The Docks in Downtown Hampton this year.
After a year of tending, The oysters are placed on The Hampton River-Elizabeth Lake Oyster Sanctuary Reef where they will continue to work hard cleaning the Hampton River and providing habitat for hundreds of species.
Claire Neubert and Linda Hamm, Owners of Shored Up, say
“These Downtown oyster gardens are celebrities in our efforts to showcase Hampton’s unique local seafood history and share present-day restoration techniques to our tour and program participants…Afterall, our business relies on clean waterways. So, we are most grateful to Downtown Hampton Development Partnership (DHDP) who generously hosts and supports us, these oyster gardens and ultimately the beauty and health of our water and community.”
Shored Up is a partner in the Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, a coalition with a mission to restore a healthy oyster population in order to have a healthy Bay! The goal is to put 10 billion oysters into the Bay by 2025, so every bit of help--and every oyster--counts!
Learn more about Shored Up: www.shoredupva.com