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Glossary

Aquaculture:     the farming of aquatic organisms for human consumption

‘Blank’ oyster shell:      aged oyster shells used to plant new spat and to build up the lease bottom so that spat do not sink into the muddy bottom

Bottom culture:      growing oysters on bottom substrates in natural conditions rather than in cages or floats in the water column

Culch/cultch:      material to furnish points of attachment for spat

Culchless/cultchless:      individual oysters grown for half-shell market rather than restoration and/or shuck market purposes

Diploid:      organism with two sets of chromosomes

Downweller:      a tank with a downward flow of water, used for setting individual oysters on microculch (for half-shell market)

Dredge:      a heavy iron frame with strong teeth along its lower lip and a bag of strong cord traditionally used to harvest oysters

Hand Tongs:      a pair of wooden shafts 12 to 20 feet long bearing opposing baskets shaped like rakes used traditionally for gathering oysters

Hatchery:      a facility where larvae and juvenile oysters are produced, oysters are spawned and eggs are fertilized under artificial conditions

Half-shell market:      select oysters cultured and prepared for individual sale

Keystone Species:      A species so critical to an ecosystem that its removal could potentially destroy the entire system.

Larvae:      the recently-hatched, swimming form of oysters, oysters are larvae during the first 2-3 weeks of life

Lease bottom:       an area of water leased from the State and used to plant oysters

Microculch:       small pieces of cultch (i.e. ground oyster shells)

Nursery:      the area where young oyster spat/seed will grow out to a larger but still juvenile size, typically about 1 inch

Plant:      the act of putting spat-on shell on lease bottom, or putting oyster seed in cages to grow to market size

Seed:      (see Spat)  individual immature oysters, typically set on microcultch, usually ranging from 2mm to 1 inch

Set:      the act of introducing swimming larvae to cultch so they ‘glue’themselves to cultch and metamorphose into spat

Shuck-market:      oysters suitable for being sold in shucked form, typically less aesthetically pleasant than half-shell market oysters

Spat:      immature oyster(s), an oyster is usually referred to as a spat during its first year of growth

Spat-on-shell (or spat-on-culch):       young oysters residing on oyster shells, used primarily for restoration projects and for shuck-market

Strike:      the transitional phase when swimming larvae ‘glue’ themselves to cultch and metamorphose into spat

Triploid:       organism with three sets of chromosomes, triploid oysters maintain consistent meat quality year round

Upweller:      a tank with an upward flow of water, used during the early growth stages of juvenile oyster seed

Water Column:      a column of water typically including the bottom, leased from the State used to grow oysters in cages or floats

Weller:      container placed in a downweller or upweller to hold microculch and oyster seed

Wild:      non-farmed natural oyster stock, containing genes more characteristic of naturally occurring oyster populations
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  • Home
  • Online Store
  • Products and Pricing
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Photos and Video
  • Affiliations
  • Glossary