Interview with Steve Parkes
How did you get involved with the Massachusetts Oyster Project (MOP)?
"I first heard of the project three or four years ago when I was at Boston Food Fest. They had a table set up and were talking to people as they walked by. After stopping and listening to them talk about their organization, I joined the email list. They sent out newsletters and information, which sometimes I would read, and other times I wouldn't; one day I was reading a newsletter and saw that they were looking for new members for their board of directors. I had just left the board of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and I was looking for something to do, so I sent in my resume. With my background in the seafood industry, I guess I was a good fit and I ended up joining their board."
How did MOP end up partnering with Maritime Gloucester for this upweller project ?
"An old board member had been looking for a good location for an upweller for awhile but nothing seemed to fit; there were too many complicated landlords, excessive permits, people wanting to ship the project off, and it just wasn't working. But then it was one of those light bulb moments for me; we (Maritime Gloucester) have a wharf and would be able to keep a constant eye on the upweller and the oysters inside so it made a lot of sense to just build it here."
Where did the oysters come from?
"We got the oysters from the Aquaculture Research Corporation (ARC) in Dennis, MA down by the Cape. Raising oysters makes a lot of sense from an aquaculture stand point; you don't need to (explicitly) feed or water them so it's pretty cheap compared to raising livestock or something. The ARC gave us 60,000 oysters so there are about 10,000 in each of these buckets right now."
What is the plan for these oysters?
"There is some interest from several towns around here. There has been talk from Wareham, MA about looking into using oysters for waste water treatment; the idea is that the nitrogen in the water would cause an algal bloom which the oysters would then consume. It also may be possible to add them to existing beds of the same species. Nothing is for sure yet."
Thank you Steve for all the information!
"I first heard of the project three or four years ago when I was at Boston Food Fest. They had a table set up and were talking to people as they walked by. After stopping and listening to them talk about their organization, I joined the email list. They sent out newsletters and information, which sometimes I would read, and other times I wouldn't; one day I was reading a newsletter and saw that they were looking for new members for their board of directors. I had just left the board of the Northeast Seafood Coalition and I was looking for something to do, so I sent in my resume. With my background in the seafood industry, I guess I was a good fit and I ended up joining their board."
How did MOP end up partnering with Maritime Gloucester for this upweller project ?
"An old board member had been looking for a good location for an upweller for awhile but nothing seemed to fit; there were too many complicated landlords, excessive permits, people wanting to ship the project off, and it just wasn't working. But then it was one of those light bulb moments for me; we (Maritime Gloucester) have a wharf and would be able to keep a constant eye on the upweller and the oysters inside so it made a lot of sense to just build it here."
Where did the oysters come from?
"We got the oysters from the Aquaculture Research Corporation (ARC) in Dennis, MA down by the Cape. Raising oysters makes a lot of sense from an aquaculture stand point; you don't need to (explicitly) feed or water them so it's pretty cheap compared to raising livestock or something. The ARC gave us 60,000 oysters so there are about 10,000 in each of these buckets right now."
What is the plan for these oysters?
"There is some interest from several towns around here. There has been talk from Wareham, MA about looking into using oysters for waste water treatment; the idea is that the nitrogen in the water would cause an algal bloom which the oysters would then consume. It also may be possible to add them to existing beds of the same species. Nothing is for sure yet."
Thank you Steve for all the information!