A Focus on Wellfeet Oysters

 

What can bring together Friends of Herring River, Wellfleet fifth graders, Truro fifth graders, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and the Environmental Science classes at Nauset Regional High School?  This unlikely partnership developed because of the iconic Wellfleet oyster and questions about how oysters will fare as a result of local salt marsh and tidal restoration projects.

 

Local ecologist, John Portnoy, conceived of the project to test the growth and survivorship of oysters in various parts of Mayo Creek and the Herring River. Alice Iacuessa, a retired teacher, reached out to the local schools to involve them in the project as a way of introducing them to the benefits of local restoration projects. On  October 2, students in Luke Simpson's Environmental Science classes weighed and measured the oysters, and learned about the history and ecology of the Herring River and its infamous dike.

 

On October 5 and 6, the elementary and high school students took field trips to a shellfish grant near Mayo Beach. The students, in boots and waders, trudged out to the muddy flats during low tide and were joined by Assistant Shellfish Constable John Mankevetch who explained the art, labor, and economics of shellfish farming.  Jacob Puffer, the local grower who donated the oysters, shared his experiences as an oysterman.  While on the flats and in the Herring River, the students enjoyed activities led by Jess McManus, an educator at Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

It was then up to the high school student to deploy their oysters, carefully zip-tied   into mesh grow-out bags, in the various study sites. The students bid farewell to their oysters and left them, on their own, until later in the Fall. After they are removed from the test sites, they will be assessed for survivorship, and measured and weighed again. 

 

2015 is the second year of this project, which promises to shed some light on the present and future prospects for Wellfleet oysters when tidal flow is restored to  Herring River and Mayo Creek.  More importantly, another generation of young citizens is being introduced to the importance of salt marsh and tidal restoration in a hands-on way, right in their own backyards.