National Public Radio reported that an “oyster renaissance in the Southeastern U.S. is underway,” and UGA’s Marine Extension will be a leader in making that happen in Georgia.
The NPR story examined how Southern states from Virginia to Florida are working to restore an oyster industry that once thrived in the South.
Georgia launched its first oyster hatchery at Skidaway Island, and Thomas Bliss, public service associate and director of UGA’s Shellfish Research Laboratory, shared the progress with NPR.
“The hatchery produced 200,000 seedlings in 2015, which were handed out to 10 different oyster growers to raise in heavy mesh bags laid in the coastal waters,” Bliss said. “We hope to be producing 5 million a year by 2018.”
