Oysters are one of the world’s most important seafood products, with farms producing about seven million metric tons each year. Now, researchers have unlocked the complete genetic code of a special hybrid oyster, providing a valuable tool that could help improve how these shellfish are farmed. The study, published in Scientific Data, presents the first […]
Keeping Oyster and Clam Farms Safe from Disease
A new study in Aquaculture looked at how tiny oysters and clams (called seed) can carry diseases when moved between hatcheries and farms. The authors wanted to find out which life stages are most at risk, and how careful water treatment can help protect both farmed and wild shellfish. David Bushek, an affiliate of the […]
Rutgers-designed Oyster Reef Structure Installed to Help Protect U.S. Military Base from Storms
U.S. Air Force officials installed a new kind of structure in the waters of St. Andrew Bay on the shore of the Tyndall U.S. Air Force Base in northwest Florida on Oct. 30 – the first section of a Rutgers University-designed “self-healing” reef made of custom-designed concrete modules and living oysters. The reef is designed […]
Rutgers Haskin Lab Postdoc Collaborates with NOAA Fisheries on Atlantic Surfclam Research
Laura Steeves, postdoctoral researcher at the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, collaborates with NOAA Fisheries to understand how a species important to New Jersey will respond to changing ocean conditions. “The Atlantic surfclam is a shellfish species recognized for their large shells that wash up on beaches along the east coast of the United States. I’ve been […]
Surf Clams Off the Coast of Virginia Reappear – and Rebound
The Atlantic surf clam, an economically valuable species that is the main ingredient in clam chowder and fried clam strips, has returned to Virginia waters in a big way, reversing a die-off that started more than two decades ago. In a comprehensive study of surf clams collected from an area about 45 miles due east […]
Rutgers Shellfish Researcher Investigates the Link between Horseshoe Crabs and Oyster Farming in the Delaware Bay
Marine ecologist Daphne Munroe, associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, has a deep respect for New Jersey’s Delaware Bay and its unique ecosystem that supports an abundance of life. Munroe, a shellfish researcher working out of the Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory in Port […]
Rutgers-led Project Successfully Conducts Testing of Shellfish Reef Structure Designed to Promote Coastal Resilience
The Rutgers-led Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) project—awarded $12.6 million last fall to develop an artificial reef ecosystem to help project coastlines from storm damage, flooding and erosion—recently conducted laboratory testing of modular oyster reef-mimicking structures for eventual installation in the Gulf Coast. The multi-institution project, “Reefense: A Mosaic Oyster Habitat (MOH) for Coastal Defense,” […]
Living Shoreline Combats Coastal Erosion Caused by Sea Level Rise
Rutgers Scientists and high school volunteers from Camden are using nature to mitigate the effects of coastal erosion in Southern New Jersey. Together they built a living shoreline near the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May that uses marsh grasses and recycled oyster and clam shells. The shells, incorporated into modified concrete blocks called Oyster […]
Feasible Surfclam Husbandry Techniques for Northeast Shellfish Growers
Editor’s note: Michael Acquafredda (GSNB’19) earned a doctoral degree in Ecology and Evolution in the Rutgers School of Graduate Studies A study that provides technical aspects of Atlantic surfclam (Spisula solidissima) husbandry supports the feasibility for the culture of the species in the U.S. Northeast region. “Overall, successful surfclam nursery culture aligns well with the […]
Rutgers Shellfish Breeding Program Enters the Genomic Era
A consortium of scientists led by Rutgers University has developed a high-density DNA chip for the eastern oyster to better research and breeding The Rutgers shellfish breeding program, an ongoing project supported by the Atlantic States Marine Fishery Commission and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fishery Service, is testing a high-density DNA chip for […]
