Conservation Group Looking To Filter Fort Lauderdale's Waterways With Oysters
FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - There's an oyster "catching" going in the waters of Fort Lauderdale, it's part of a pilot program that aims to help naturally filter polluted waterways.
Long before the recent sewage spills, the Coastal Conservation Association had been planning to increase Fort Lauderdale's oyster population. Their numbers have been dwindling over the years.
"The oysters, over many decades, have just kind of died off as the water quality in Fort Lauderdale has decreased and has suffered over all these years. It's not just from the sewage spills, it's from pollution, freshwater over many years, the oysters just can't survive any longer," said Mike Lambrechts with the Coastal Conservation Association.
Lambrechts says timing is everything when it comes to increasing the population.
"So right now we're targeting this time of the year because when the water starts to warm is when oyster reproduction season happens," he said.
Lambrechts and his crew are checking out 100 locations around downtown Fort Lauderdale and the southeastern part of the city. They're looking for the spots where oysters grow best. Oysters are a natural way to filter the water.
"The ultimate goal is to have areas that used to grow oysters in Fort Lauderdale to have them grow naturally again. When we have this natural system of oysters, we're going to have the filtration again and one oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day," said Lambrechts.
The "oyster catchers" they are setting in the city's waterways attract what are called "spat." It's like the seed that begins oyster growth. Eventually, about 100 oysters will live on each one. It's step one in finding the right place and the right conditions to help oysters grow naturally.
"We will be able to gather enough data to see in what areas and what temperatures and what salinity that these oysters will grow better in and where they may not," said Lambrechts.
Some have asked if they could collect and eat these oysters. Absolutely not, according to Lambrechts, their job is to help clean the waterways. He adds that their natural filtration system works best when they hit about a year old.