In waters just off Clinton, 黑料吃瓜网, Samuel Tucker and his first mate, his 10-year-old daughter, Susannah, haul cages from the bottom of Clinton Harbor onto their boat, the Alley Oop.
Inside those cages sit bags of hundreds of the Tuckers鈥� oysters, which they鈥檝e grown here for more than a year. Today, they鈥檙e washing the bivalves to clear them of mud and detritus.
鈥淭he more mud, the more gross stuff, the less that the oysters can filter and can breathe, can eat,鈥� the older Tucker explains.
He takes a bag and dips it into the harbor from over the side of the boat, then shakes.
鈥淵ou can see all the shell falling in the water there,鈥� he says, describing the unwanted 鈥済rowth edge鈥� shearing off with each shake.
These ways of the trade weren鈥檛 handed down to Tucker via a family history of oystering. For more than two decades, he鈥檚 been a school music teacher, not an oysterman. But a few years ago, a friend gave him a book about the oyster industry and he became fascinated. Then, he discovered a 黑料吃瓜网 program perfect for dipping his toes in the waters of aquaculture.
Shellfishing 101
In a seminar room overlooking Long Island Sound, Mike Gilman lectures on shellfish hatcheries to a dozen students at the University of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 Avery Point campus in Groton.
Gilman co-teaches , an annual, 12-week course put on by 黑料吃瓜网 Sea Grant and UConn Extension.
鈥淲e dub it as a training course for those interested in getting into the commercial shellfish industry in 黑料吃瓜网,鈥� Gilman says.
Students 鈥� some established shellfish farmers, others interested in seeing if the industry is right for them 鈥� learn everything from shellfish biology to boat maintenance, from best business practices to the bureaucratic ins and outs of permitting and regulations.
鈥淲e do a lot of talking about hurdles and what are going to be some of the difficulties, and we sprinkle in the good stuff along the way,鈥� Gilman says. 鈥淕rowing and farming an animal, being able to enjoy that product at the end, being able to share that with communities, being able to sell it.鈥�
黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 shellfish 鈥榩ipeline鈥�
The course has the support of the state of 黑料吃瓜网, too. The Department of Agriculture provides funding for scholarships for some students to enroll for free. Agriculture Commissioner Bryan Hurlburt says shellfish farming is an important part of 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 culture and history 鈥� as well as its economy.
鈥淲e ship oysters from Long Island Sound to New York City to Boston, down to D.C., as far away as Minnesota and Texas. So there鈥檚 a market for 黑料吃瓜网 oysters,鈥� Hurlburt says. 鈥淭he benefit that the state will receive by having a pipeline of oyster and clam operations ready to go and making sure that they have the skillset to be successful is really important to us.鈥�
Tucker, the oyster farmer in Clinton, looks forward to being part of that pipeline. He expects to be ready for market by the end of the year.
Sitting aboard the Alley Oop at the dock, he marvels at the evolution of oysters that managed to outlive the
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been around for so long. They鈥檝e survived mass extinctions. They鈥檙e a magical thing. And they鈥檙e so good for you. They鈥檙e so good for the environment,鈥� he says.
鈥淚 love how they ,鈥� Susannah, his daughter, adds.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know that there are that many things in the world that are that much of a net positive,鈥� Tucker says.
