NOAA, for this summer’s Oyster Day (August 5th), put together these oyster facts. See the globally recognized research NOAA does with oysters and shellfish.
Oyster Facts
- Oysters clean up the water as they grow.
- Farmed oysters don’t need to be fed – they are filter feeders, filtering phytoplankton, nutrients and particulates from the water.
- Harvesting oysters is a form of bioextraction – it removes excess nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, from the ecosystem.
- Oyster beds and reefs stabilize coastal sediments and can minimize negative impacts of storm surges.
- Oysters are bivalve mollusks of the shellfish family.
- Each female oyster can produce over 100 million eggs during a spawning event.
Oysters in the U.S.
- Oysters have been farmed in the United States since the 1800s.
- Oyster production makes up the largest portion of marine aquaculture in the United States.
- 35 million pounds of oysters, valued at $136 million, were produced in the United States in 2012.
- Historical oyster populations have been decimated in the United States. A number of restoration efforts are under way to once again build up populations.
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