CAPE MAY – Oysters are a popular dinner choice near the shore. But before they end up on your plate, and in your stomach, they’re spawned at the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May.
“Most of the oysters, local oysters that you would buy at a restaurant at any of the Delaware Bay counties, primarily were spawned and started in this facility,” said Sean Towers, of Rutgers NJ Aquaculture Innovation Center.
The Center, powered by Rutgers University, does more than selling oysters to local farmers. They’re putting an oyster blueprint together, so others can follow.
“The goal of the facility is to be a demonstration site,” said Towers. “To show the aquaculture industry how to do certain things. New ways to do certain things. What works, what doesn’t.”
Right now, the emphasis, is oysters. And algae, the oysters’ diet. But once the oyster blueprint is complete, the focus can shift elsewhere.
“As we push that onto the industry and encourage them to start up their own hatchery, or their own nursery system, we can look at other grow-out methods for other species… scallops, clams fin fish,” said Towers. “We have the facility to do it, it’s just a matter of finding time.”
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