Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Moving Seed Out to Back River
Christian likes to say "It's a big popcorn machine" right now because of the explosion on the growth curve during this time of the year. It's constant sorting--shaking the oysters through mesh screens. What falls through stays in the upwellers for a while longer, the bigger ones are moved into bags that either sit in cages on the floor of the bay, or--as in these pictures--float up in Back River.
Erin explains what's going on in detail on Shucked.
(17 photos total)
If they're too small, they fall through. What's left are 1/4" or bigger. These will go in bags, and out onto the grants.
Catie and Erin. For hours on end.
Heading into Back River.
Each cupful (bottom of plastic water bottle...) is ~1200 osyters.
Quinn and Catie clipping bags in.
With the outgoing tide, bags drift down to the people hooking them in.
There's an art to tossing the bags.
Note the extra rings clipped around Quinn's belt loop. Well prepared.
Catie
Back River.
400 or so bags were put out this day.
Skip heads off into deeper mud to string more lines for the bags.
If the weather's ever nice, there's a lot of recreational boating around here. It would Not Be Good if someone plowed through 1 million baby oysters at 20 knots...
No bodies, but you can never be sure what you're stepping on or picking up...
Measuring.
And counting.