New_Ocean_Equities_Web_Site

•Developed oyster farming business marketing plans and growout projects in the Chesapeake, Chincoteague, Shinnecock and Moriches bays.
•In the Chesapeake Bay, developed opportunities for watermen to develop shellfish culture businesses. The goal was to assist them with small-scale oyster farming and help restore oysters to Chesapeake Bay. Ocean Equities developed a team to design a program modeled after successful French and Irish and Martha's Vineyard approaches. The objective was to develop an integrated oyster industry, capable of producing, processing and marketing oysters year-round. We conducted oyster farming workshops on Smith and Tangier islands in July 1998, and began a pilot oyster culture project for Smith Island watermen in the spring of 1999. We developed a business plan for the oyster farmers and provided ongoing technical advice, pollution source surveys and monitoring for disease. For a copy of the Smith Island Business Plan, click here.

•Conducted a shellfish aquaculture feasibility study for the Southampton, NY Trustees. We evaluated potential environmental, regulatory, policy, economic and productivity issues associated with small-scale commercial aquaculture in the Town of Southampton. This evaluation provided the Town of Southampton with an understanding of the factors related to developing small-scale aquaculture. The study also (1) provided a roadmap for decision-making, addressing how to proceed with small-scale aquaculture, and what constitutes acceptable, sustainable growth of the industry, and (2) can serve as a model for many other coastal communities also contemplating small-scale aquaculture development, but concerned about adverse impacts, liability and the likelihood of success. The Executive Summary is available by clicking here.

Produced the 1995 National Shellfish Register of Classified Estuarine Waters; The summary and report are available by clicking the dots.

•Developed Vibrio vulnificus (Vv) risk management plans for Gulf of Mexico states and the Vv and Vibrio parahaemolyticus education programs for the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, including seminars, videos, brochures and on-line CME programs for physicians, nurses and dieticians.