Credit: Susan Allen/Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration (SOAR)
The oysters bought back — about 50 tons worth — were brought by barge to a designated restoration reef in Tuckerton Bay.
For the small-scale oyster growers of Barnegat and Delaware bays, the challenge of finding enough customers to buy their harvest is growing more difficult by the day, as the still-surging pandemic converges with winter, forcing restaurants to scale back orders or shutter altogether.
But a partnership recently forged between The Pew Charitable Trusts and The Nature Conservancy is working to counter the ongoing economic impact of the pandemic on the oyster aquaculture industry, which supports around 3,000 jobs nationwide.