Bivalve Bites: Oyster Farming 101, Online
BIVALVE BITES: EASILY DIGESTIBLE OYSTER AQUACULTURE NEWS
Interest in off-bottom oyster aquaculture continues to rise, and in Florida and the wider Gulf Coast Region, this increase has been as fast-paced as the growth of oysters already being cultivated in the area’s warm waters. To arm potential and fledgling farmers with the information and skills needed to be successful, the Shellfish Aquaculture Extension Program, a part of the University of Florida IFAS Extension, was gearing up to offer an aquaculture course. Then the pandemic struck and pushed a change of plans. While in-person and on-the-water classes were no longer an option, the program noticed that farmers were still forging ahead. So, it decided to meet them in the middle with its Online Oyster Culture Course. Leslie N. Sturmer, who oversees the Shellfish Aquaculture Extension Program, explains how it works and how well it’s worked for those who’ve already taken advantage of the free offering.
OS: What prompted the Online Oyster Culture Course?
Leslie: We’d already started working on a course for new growers, but when COVID hit, we realized any in-person classes were not doable. There were still a lot of people getting into the business though, so we felt a course was a needed resource. We switched gears and created the online course. We had the first session ready to go in June 2021, so it started then. The last session was ready in November 2021.
OS: What does the course encompass?
Leslie: There are 39 separate presentations led by 23 instructors. All together, they total about 11 hours and are divided in to four sessions. The course covers multiple topics, starting with site and gear selection in sessions 1 and 2 and moving onto growing a crop, management practices like biofouling control and storm prep, as well as financial planning. The last session covers harvesting and then branding, marketing and selling, as well as regulations and safety rules.
It is self-paced, so once you enroll, you can hop on any time you want and go through the presentations. Each presentation is about 15-30 minutes. And there are other resource materials available to participants too.
OS: Who all was involved in making it happen?
Leslie: My program had some internal funding we put into this, but we also reached out to others in the industry to get content and instructors for the presentations. It was a real group effort. Other academic colleagues, including the Auburn University Shellfish Lab; industry organizations like Oyster South and the East Coast Shellfish Association; and regulatory folks like the Florida Department of Agriculture, all pitched in on a volunteer basis and contributed insight, information, video content for the presentations. There was a real outpouring of time from a lot of industry players. That’s what made it work. And kept it free, which was always key. It’s important that we offer the course at no cost.
OS: How many people have taken the course?
Leslie: We’ve had 565 sign up. Once they go through all four sessions, they get a certificate of completion. We’ve issued 32 certificates, so far, so not all have made it there yet. But some might not. We know from comments we’ve gotten that it’s not just new farmers taking the course; some more established farmers are signing up as well, and they may be skipping certain sections and just zeroing in on the specific topic or topics they wanted to learn more about. It’s been useful for me to have so much information collected in one place. Now, when I get a question from a grower on some topic, I just direct them to that presentation or session from the course. When I get an inquiry that just says I want to know more about oyster aquaculture, I tell them to check out the course and then get back to me if they want to know even more. We’ve also had folks learning from outside the Gulf region, including other countries.
OS: What has the response been?
Leslie: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We did a survey of 400 participants back in January and got about 8 percent back. Of those, 93 percent said they’d recommend the course to others. And we got multiple comments about how great and approachable the content is, how interesting and skilled the instructors are. People love the convenience of it being online, and they really appreciate the self-paced format. The best comments, to me, have praised the course for being practical, and that’s want we wanted, to give people a solid, basic foundation that would help them get started in oyster growing. We have had some requests for additional topics, and we still have people signing up, so I think it’s been well received.
OS: Why would you encourage someone considering the course to go ahead and sign up?
Leslie: Well, it’s free, so there’s not a lot to lose. And it’s self-paced, so you try it on your timetable. Another great aspect is our presenters: They are experts in their various fields, and they all provided their contact info, so if you want, you can follow up with them to learn even more.