Delaware’s pilot-scale shellfish hatchery supports industry renewal
Editor’s note: This column is a regular feature written by staff at the University of Delaware. It will spotlight UD research at UD facilities in southern Delaware, and related events in beach towns and surrounding areas.
Since launching in 2022, Delaware’s first industry-serving, pilot-scale shellfish hatchery, a compact, high-tech facility located on the University of Delaware’s Lewes campus, has been steadily supplying seed oysters to farmers, researchers and restoration projects throughout Delaware.
Before the arrival of the hatchery, oyster farmers in Delaware often lacked access to larvae and seed oysters. Now, UD and Delaware Sea Grant professionals working at the hatchery are able to produce and distribute remote set spat on shell and seed oysters, with more than 1 million distributed to farmers in Delaware Bay and Rehoboth Bay during the 2024 growing season.
These hatchery-raised oysters will help improve the environment and provide economic benefits to in-state farmers, supporting a thriving restaurant industry and making Delaware competitive with oyster production in surrounding states.
Managed through a partnership among the University of Delaware, Delaware Sea Grant and Delaware State University, the hatchery houses larvae tanks, algae culture systems and remote setting tanks. This setup allows for the growth of oyster larvae through their earliest, most vulnerable life stages.
Soon, the university hopes to expand the hatchery’s capabilities.
Currently in the second part of a four-phase growth plan, the proposed Fisheries and Aquaculture Innovation Center will establish the state’s first commercial-scale shellfish hatchery. This will provide a reliable, local source of oyster larvae and seed, giving oyster farms access to the resources they need to scale their operations, enabling more extensive oyster reef restoration projects and ultimately strengthening the resilience of Delaware’s coastal communities. With the goal of increasing outputs in each phase of growth, this second phase will also see the FAIC produce 10-25 times more larvae and seed oysters.
“The Fisheries & Aquaculture Innovation Center is purposefully designed to help improve local water quality, support coastal business development through seed supply and workforce development, and serve as a new hub for coastal research that has direct benefits to the people of Delaware and the broader region,” said Ed Hale, an assistant professor in UD’s School of Marine Science and Policy, and a fisheries and aquaculture specialist with Delaware Sea Grant.
Intended as a hub for cutting-edge research in fisheries and aquaculture, the FAIC will provide opportunities for students, faculty and industry partners to collaborate on innovative solutions, positioning Delaware as a leader in the Blue Economy.
The university is working to secure public and private funding to bring these plans to life and help fill a long-standing gap in the industry. Delaware was once home to a thriving oyster industry, with millions of bushels harvested annually in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Decades of overharvesting, habitat loss and disease left wild populations in steep decline. Until recently, Delaware was the only East Coast state without a commercial oyster hatchery or established aquaculture industry.
That began to change in 2017, when new state policies opened acreage in the Inland Bays to shellfish farming. Today, commercial operations led by growers ranging from former teachers to retired engineers farm oysters in Delaware’s coastal waters. These growers are helping to restore both ecological balance and a once-lost cultural tradition.
A celebration of this tradition and locally grown Inland Bays oysters, the second annual Inland Bays Oyster Week is set for Sunday, Aug. 3 through Thursday, Aug. 7.
Organized and sponsored by Southern Delaware Tourism and Delaware Sea Grant, the week will feature boat and kayak excursions, arts and educational events, an oyster hatchery tour and numerous social activities, including Meet the Grower happy hour events at local raw bars and restaurants.
An Inland Bays Oyster Experience from 9 to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Aug. 7, will feature a visit to one of the open-water shellfish lease areas in Rehoboth Bay. Participants will learn about the process of growing oysters from seed to market from Brendan Campbell, UD research associate. Campbell will explain some of the ecological services provided by a robust aquaculture industry and share information about where the public can purchase local oysters for their own enjoyment. Oyster grower Mark Casey will meet the tour on-site to share his stories about oyster farming in the Inland Bays.
For more information about UD’s hatchery and the proposed FAIC, go to tinyurl.com/3fy8tke2.
