![]() ![]() Without this resource, preserved by the trust, it is hard to look out over Great Peconic Bay and the beautiful homes packed along its shores and imagine where this group would be able to operate. The setup was a result of the work of the previous owner on this land, the Plock family’s Shelter Island Oyster Company. It can be difficult for people who want to work on the water.”Ī small enclosure was dug out on the trust land and then later opened to the bay to provide a man-made marina, working pier and makeshift nursery and shellfish incubator. Property along the water is in high demand and that can limit access to working waterfront. “There is competition on the water with the traditional baymen of New York and with recreational boaters. “There are a different set of pressures here,” Rivara explains. The leases here are smaller and the farmers all use cage culture. This land was set aside by the trust specifically for aquaculture uses, and Karen provides the spat to just over 20 leaseholders in the Peconic Bay and surrounding areas. This is where she manages the spat production in a small greenhouse facility, with space underground. The next day I met up with Rivara across the Long Island Sound, on a plot belonging to the Peconic Land Trust, which is nestled on the edge of North Fork wine country. Social acceptance is a huge part of our success here,” she says. A group from Connecticut SeaGrant has work going on some of our oysters and their ability to filter feed and clean water. One of the wastewater treatment facilities on the Mystic River has installed UV treatment equipment because they knew that we operated in the watershed. The Groton Shellfish Commission works with us very closely and supports our work. “Over there at Ram Island we have a separate lease to allow the market size oysters to depurate in the more open waters to prepare for market. Social acceptance is a key term used by Rivara, in particular for her Groton operations. ![]() Danielle Buttermore, hatchery manager at the Noank Oyster Cooperative My whole family is ‘hands-on’ and we all work with water,” she explains. My father worked in septic services, and my brother is in plumbing, so it makes a lot of sense. “I have always been interested in aquaculture and was part of an aquaculture programme in high school. The work is multi-faceted, dirty, technical and requires practical problem solving at every turn. Currently a student of the University of Connecticut graduate school, she oversees the production of over 10 million spat, as well as cultivating algae for feed in a separate room. She attended the Marine Science Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut nearby and has been with the co-op since 2016. It was raw and raining outside as I walked into the building that serves as the oyster broodstock and spat production facility: the space for processing and storing harvested oysters, and storage for a small group of farmers operating in the local bays and estuaries.īuttermore’s enthusiasm for the work is infectious. I met oyster farmer Karen Rivara and hatchery manager Danielle Buttermore at the Noank Oyster Cooperative in Groton. ![]()
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