Oyster Float FAQs with Answers

FAQ: Dr. Virginica, my oyster float sank. What should I do?

      Please call me Ginny. By the way, I love these floats. My cousins will grow three times as fast as I did, because they can feed on the algae in the river so much easier in a float that I could from the river bottom when I was young. We oysters only improve with age, you know. But, alas, all of my brothers and sisters have succumbed. Our beautiful reefs, which were our homes, have been destroyed. My friend, Jim Wesson at VMRC, has been a darling. His agency has restored 13 of our oyster reefs in our ancestral home waters of Virginia. But our water has been contaminated. And these diseases have ravaged our kind so that there are now in the Chesapeake Bay only 1% of us oysters that were living here when your country was founded. I regret to tell you that my next oldest kinfolk are only 3 to 4 years old! But you asked about your float and I do want to help.

      If you have access to the internet, I suggest that you e-mail my friend, Dave Love, of Restore the Oyster (RtO) at mdlove@aol.com. By the way, RtO can provide you, if you are a member, with materials to rebuild the float, hopefully salvaging some of your materials. We would like to try to conduct post mortem on some of the sunken float to determine the cause of its sinking so we can help others to keep their floats afloat.

      A phone number to keep on hand is that of my very good friend, Dr. Rob Brumbaugh, who is the manager of the Norfolk field office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. You can reach him by phone at 622- 1964, or via E-Mail. He and his staff are happy to help answer your questions. Their goal is to restore the waters of the Chesapeake Bay to the healthy levels of 100 years ago. Then there were enough oysters (my ancestors) to filter all (yes, all) of the water in the bay every 4 to 5 days. Now it sadly takes over 400 days for we few remaining oysters to filter the bay's waters.

      For the do-it-yourselfers, the most likely problem causing your float to take on water is a leak around the elbow connections. The solution is to apply more PVC cement around the 8 elbow connections. First, drain the water from the inside of the float. A simple way to drain the water is to drill two holes into the top of each of the 2 foot long light green sewer pipes. Keep the holes small because you will want to cover the holes with PVC cement after you drain the water out. The cement should dry quickly. Then you are ready to throw the float back into the river.

      A more radical solution is to saw off the ends. Buy four new elbows. RtO has some extra end pieces, cleaner and cement. The cleaner is purple, toxic, and will badlly stain anything it touches. You will have to down size the cage, so you will need wire cutters, pig rings and pig ring pliers. Some people have gone back to the hardware store and bought new 10 foot lenghts of PVC and started from scratch with the floatation element. This method costs a little more, but has the distinct advantage of not having to downsize the green vinyl coated cage.

FAQ: I am worried that my float might sink. How should I keep it from sinking?

      Pull the float out of the water and tip it from side to side. Listen for the sound of water inside the float. Also you can feel the weight of the water shifting from one side to another. If you hear or feel any water at all, there must be a leak and you need to fix it. Even if there is no water leaking yet into your float, you might want to inspect it to be sure it will stay that way. Inspect around the elbow joints. Did you apply pvc cement copiously at these eight junctions? If not now is a good time to do so to prevent the possibility of a leak coming from this area. To be safe, attach your oyster bag(s) to the float so they wont wander away if the float sinks. Write you name, address and phone number on the top of your float and identify it as being a part of Restore the Oyster and Chesapeake Bay Foundation Oyster Corps.

FAQ: My oysters are getting too big for the bag(s). What should I do?

      Sort them by size. Keep the small ones together in the one bag and put the faster growing ones in another bag. Don't throw away the slower growing oysters. They will catch up later. RtO will be offering a recommended bag to its members later in October.

FAQ: When are my oysters big enough to eat?

      You need to check with the Virginia Department of Shellfish Sanitation to find out whether the water in your area of your river is safe for eating oysters. They have a Norfolk office which keeps up on the conditions of local rivers. Some people used to eat raw oysters. Just like it is not a good idea to eat raw meat from the grocery store, it is better to cook your oysters before eating them even if they come from a noncontaminated water way.

      People normally start eating oysters when the oyster is at least 3 inches in length. Oysters, unlike clams, only get better the larger they grow.

      People used to say that the time to eat oysters was in the months ending with the letter "r". But any good oyster worth her salinity know that the best times to eat us ( in the northern hemisphere) is from the end of November to the end of December and in May and June. We oysters grow plump in the spring and fall, but we sort of hibernate in the winter. In the summer we are busy making babies.

FAQ: How often should I clean my float?

      Floats foul up quickly in the simmer, but the best idea is to check on the float every couple of weeks. You want to say ahead of the fouling. If the fouing gets ahead of you, then you might rather throw away your cage and start all over again. Before you throw it away, though, try letting it dray out. The algae will flake off a lot easier after it has dried. That way you can use the samae cage and float over and over again.

FAQ: How do I get the oysters I want to donate to the reef to RtO?

      You will be contacted in the late summer of 1998 by RtO for the fall round up. You will bring the oysters you want to donate to the prearranged location. RtO and CBF will get all these oysters to VMRC for placement on the reef. Don't do this yourself. Only a special part of the Lynnhaven reef will received the donated oysters. Don't worry, there will be plenty of room. At the time of the fall round up we hope to have our first oyster roast for RtO members and another workshop to build more floats get more basg, etc. and distribute more seed oysters.

FAQ: What should I do if I find a dead oyster in my bag? What does a dead oyster look like? How many dead oysters is normal?

      Don't be alarmed if you find some dead oysters in your bags. There is a normal mortality rate among oysters prior to maturity, even when they are grown in floats. You will know that the oyster is dead because it stays open when you bring it out of the water. Live oysters will shut down when taken out of water. The dead oyster should be taken on land and left there or throw it into the garbage can. Do not leave it on the river bottom near your float.

FAQ: If I eat oysters at a restaurant, is it ok to take the shells home and start my own reef?

      Sure. I you want to do this as a group project inside RtO, call Dave Love and let him know. Perhaps we can collect oyster shells from restaurants serving oysters on a regular basis and use the shells for reef building.

FAQ: I read in the web site that the participating high schools are reporting data about their oysters to CFB. I would like to do this too. How do I participate?

      The web site will be interactive soon. Don Jeffries at WHRO is working to do this right now. You will be able to report the size of your oysters. If you want to measure salinity, a refractometer costs about $150 and if enough people want to measure salinity levels, RtO can order them for you.

FAQ: I would like to perform my own experiments to find out under what conditions oysters grow better. Do you have any suggestions?

      One experiment involves testing what level of the water column supports the best oyster growth. It appears that for certain sites upper levels do better, but at other sites the opposite results obtain. Perhaps other variables, such as salinity levels, wave action, flow rates, etc. should be tested. Rob Brumbaugh might have some good suggestions.

FAQ: Dr. Virginica, I mean, Ginny, could you tell us what does the word "Cheseapeake" mean?

      I thought you would never ask. Chesapeake is derived from a Native American word 'Chesapoic,' meaning 'great shellfish bay.'

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