Delaware Sea Grant at the State Fair

Delaware Sea Grant (DESG) will have an exhibit set up in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) building at the State Fair. The exhibit will showcase two of the projects DESG has with DNREC as they relate to water quality and the health of Delaware’s Bays, as well as give visitors an overview of DESG.

One featured project is the derelict crab pot removal work DESG has conducted with DNREC. Lost and untended crab pots harm wildlife and habitat while also creating navigational hazards. Nearly 15 percent of recreational crab pots are abandoned and more likely to become unattached from their marker buoys.

There are thousands of lost crab pots beneath the surface of Delaware’s Inland Bays, but with the help of volunteers, DESG uses side-imaging fish finders and grappling hooks to find and recover them. At the fair, there will be a stack of crab pots to allow visitors to view some of the pots.

Another section of the exhibit will showcase DESG’s aquaculture work. Oysters were once big business in Delaware, but overharvesting and an increase in oyster disease caused a crash in oyster populations. In the 1970s, the oyster industry in the Inland Bays was completely closed by the state. DESG has been working for decades to support a new oyster industry in the Inland Bays, and in 2018, the first commercially available oysters were produced since the closure of the industry.

DESG will have the oyster equipment, such as a dredge that watermen use to harvest oysters, as well as a water tank on display with oyster shells and gear oyster farmers use to raise oysters for the public to view.

Joanna York, Director of DESG, said that visitors to the fair should plan on stopping by the DESG exhibit to say hello.

“We are very excited to be exhibiting in the DNREC building at the Delaware State Fair this year,” said York. “This will allow us to engage with new audiences and to share our work with them. This will also allow us to meet new potential partners. Sharing space with DNREC gives us a great opportunity to showcase our long-standing and impactful partnership with them.”