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Risk in oyster farming, as in all agriculture and aquaculture production, is any event that a grower cannot control but affects the grower’s operation. However, various types of risk can be forecasted based on historical events and trends. A financial tool has been developed using these findings, which allows oyster growers to generate predictive costs and revenues for their farms and investment situation. This Calculator quantifies environmental and economic risks associated with oyster culture using damage reports, grower estimates, and historical data. Developed using Microsoft Excel 2018, the Calculator is compatible with previous Excel versions. First, growers enter their individual

After almost two years of operational problems, water quality monitoring stations at the Dog Island and Gulf Jackson Aquaculture Use Zones are up and running! Real-time information is available for both stations and can be viewed at the Online Resource Guide for Florida Shellfish Aquaculture website by visiting the LIVE Water Quality pages. In 2002-03, monitoring equipment was installed at these lease areas and seven others in six Florida counties with USDA funding. However, lack of continued funding resulted in most of the stations being dismantled. In 2012, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS), Division of Aquaculture and

When: January 30-31, 2019 Day 1: Wednesday, January 30, Registration (10:30 am), Sessions (11 am – 5 pm) Day 2: Thursday, January 31, Sessions (8 am – 2 pm) Where: FWC Senator Kirkpatrick Marine Lab, 11350 SW 153rd Court, Cedar Key, FL A two-day Microalgae Culture workshop is being held to address interests in culture technology and techniques for molluscan shellfish hatcheries. Topics for presentations and hands-on demonstrations will address the following topics: Function of Microalgae, Mass-Culture Strategies, Nutrition of Bivalves, Chemical Ecology of Cultures, Phytoplankton as Bivalve Foods, Media preparation & Aseptic transfers and Quantification Methods. Dr. Gary Wikfors,

Financial assistance available for growers to attend The 3rd Annual Oyster South Symposium is being held on February 22-23th, 2019 in Orange Beach, Alabama. Sponsored by Oyster South, Inc. (a non-profit dedicated to advancing oyster aquaculture in the southern US), in collaboration with National Sea Grant, this event brings together producers, gear suppliers, distributors, chefs, food writers, vendors, researchers, students and managers from the southeast region to discuss pressing issues and relevant, practical research on oyster aquaculture. Registration is now open and includes admission to all informational sessions (all day Friday and Saturday morning), all breaks, lunch on Friday, a mixer on

To address increased interest in oyster aquaculture, applied research and demonstration projects were initiated in 2016 to evaluate an oyster breeding process to Florida conditions. Diploid and triploid oysters were cultured at commercial farms and at the UF experimental site in Cedar Key, where replicated field trials allow for documenting the effects of management practices on production. Ongoing field trials are continuing to examine several gear types and biofouling control strategies.

When: Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 10-11 am A webinar is being hosted by the Southeastern Coastal Center for Agricultural Health and Safety and UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education to discuss the “Occupational Health and Safety Surveillance of Gulf Seafood Workers.” Commercial ocean fishing is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world. Workplace-related illnesses, injuries, and deaths are not uncommon for commercial seafood workers, and many of these adverse outcomes are avoidable in this mostly self-employed uninsured, hardworking workforce that feeds our nation. Dr. Andy Kane, UF Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental and Global Health and

For those shellfish growers who signed up for the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program, or NAP, with the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) for crop year 2019, there is a 72-hour requirement to notify your county office when crop losses are apparent (that means when you have been able to inspect your crop and know that you have had mortalities). For oyster growers in Wakulla County, your local office is in Monticello. The phone number is (800) 243-9912 or (850) 997-2072, ext 2. For shellfish growers in Franklin County, the Blountstown office is closed, contact the Wakulla County office instead

Shellfish growers are already hard at work recovering gear and assessing damages in the Panhandle and Big Bend areas. To view Hurricane Michael Imagery of the lease areas from NOAA’s database visit: https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/michael/index.html#. For any growers affected by Michael, you may want to join the Oyster South Growers Exchange group. People are posting pics of recovered gear, offering assistance, and coordinating hardware store runs. Visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/oystersouthgrowersexchange/ to join the group. We will be sharing posts from Wakulla and Franklin County Emergency Operations Center’s Facebook pages on our UF/IFAS Shellfish Aquaculture Extension Facebook Page. For up-to-date resources and information on the federal

Shellfish aquaculture gear management techniques and strategies to prevent gear loss were discussed at a workshop held on September 12, 2018. Hosted by the FDACS Division of Aquaculture, the workshop was held in partnership with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and NOAA’s Marine Debris Program. Guest speakers included Charles Grisafi, of NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, and Bob Rheault, Executive Director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. Dr. Bill Walton, MS-AL Sea Grant, and Leslie Sturmer, UF-IFAS led panel discussions on oyster and clam gear management techniques which featured farmers and their personal experiences. The workshop was recorded and broken