Located on the banks of the Choptank River and dedicated on August 15, 2010, the new Oyster Setting Facility at the UMCES Horn Point Laboratory will greatly expand the University’s shellfish cultivation program. When fully operational, the new facility should allow the laboratory to produce up to two billion spat-on-shell for Chesapeake Bay restoration.
This level of production was only dreamed of a decade ago. With improved science and additional investment, the Horn Point oyster culture facility and its partners has increased annual production from about 50 million spat-on-shell in 2000 to a record 750 million in 2009. The construction of the facility will allow UMCES researchers to more than double the number of oyster spat-on-shell available for Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts.
The new oyster setting facility improves the efficiency of the oyster hatchery by allowing researchers to more easily “set” hatchery-reared larval oysters on oyster shells for transplanting in the Bay. By minimizing the number of times the spat on shell need to be handled, reducing pumping costs, and providing better quality water from the Choptank River to the tanks, production of seed oysters will improve and should result in a more cost effective operation.
When combined with new techniques pioneered in the hatchery in recent years that have increased the percentage of spat that successfully set, UMCES and its partners hope to greatly expand the number of oysters available for Bay restoration efforts. The oyster restoration program is made possible by partnering with the Oyster Recovery Partnership, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Federal sponsors and others that share the goal of restoring healthy oyster populations to Chesapeake Bay for the ecological and economic benefit of the state.
The concrete piling pier, constructed by CIANBRO under the direction of the Maryland Department of General Services, measures approximately 300 feet long by 70 feet wide and utilizes reinforced concrete decking to hold fifty-two 12’ diameter- by 4.5’ deep circular tanks. The mechanical area includes pumps capable of circulating 2,500 gallons of seawater per minute which provide high quality water to support the oyster spat. A small wet lab allows scientists to monitor spat before they are deployed by vessels to restoration sites across Chesapeake Bay.
