Accidental Aquaculture

DESG Fisheries and Aquaculture Laboratory Coordinator reflects on career path

Alyssa Campbell says that she got into oysters almost by accident. As an undergraduate studying Marine Science at Stockton University, Campbell originally wanted to be a fisheries biologist, but while looking for a summer job, she happened upon a position at the New Jersey Aquaculture Innovation Center at Rutgers University.

Campbell worked at the center growing their algae in the summer of 2016. When the summer was over, and she began work at a local fisheries management office, she found herself missing the energy of working in a hatchery.

“I fell in love with the type of work that I did during the summer,” said Campbell. “I was on my feet all day and doing lab work but it was also very active.”

Campbell decided to get more experience working in hatcheries and landed a job with two local shellfish growers—an oyster farm and a clam farm—and found that her favorite part of the week was going out counting clams and bagging oysters.

That work gave her a hands-on experience with the entire aquaculture process: growing algae, working in a hatchery producing the oyster larvae and working with a brood stock, to actually being on the farm and harvesting oysters for market and for restaurants.

Campbell went on to work for Hooper’s Island Oyster Company growing their algae before moving on to a position at the University of Maryland Horn Point where she ran a research hatchery for three years.

Now, as Delaware Sea Grant’s Fisheries and Aquaculture Laboratory Coordinator, Campbell will get to help oversee the first oyster hatchery in the state of Delaware aimed at serving research, industry and restoration purposes alike.

The hatchery is located at the University of Delaware’s Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes. Campbell explained that an oyster hatchery will take parent oysters—mostly from a specific genetic strain that is artificially selected for a certain disease resistance or that is more tolerant to certain environments—and use those parent oysters to produce oyster larvae.

When the oysters are microscopic, Campbell will rear them through their sensitive larval stage in a controlled laboratory environment until they grow out to the juvenile stage.

“We want to produce as many larvae as possible and we have to provide the best conditions possible to get as many through as we can,” said Campbell. “Our facility has 600-liter tanks so it’s pretty small when compared to other facilities that can have anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000-liter pools that they fill those up with millions and millions of larvae.”

Because there is a lot of mortality through the process, Campbell explained that when they spawn the oysters, they only expect about 50 percent of the eggs to develop into larvae.

“Then, of that 50 percent, from day one to around day 14 to 21, when they’re getting ready to set and become seed, we’re only going to get a percentage of that,” said Campbell. “You could start with 100 million eggs but then only end up with actually a million seed at the end of it. So we’re trying to get as much as we can through there.”

To get them through, Campbell will monitor the water quality and cultivate the algae, feeding the oysters through a filter.

“The food we feed them, it’s almost like baby food,” said Campbell. “We feed them algae that’s really high in lipids. We feed them a lot and they eat a lot, so we’re trying to do everything we can to limit the competition in there and provide the best environment to get as many through.”

Working with Ed Hale, fisheries and aquaculture extension faculty with DESG and the University of Delaware’s School of Marine Science and Policy, and Dennis McIntosh, aquaculture specialist with DESG and faculty at Delaware State University, to get the hatchery up and running, Campbell said this is the hatchery’s pilot year and they are looking to produce seed and spat—which is when the oyster larvae permanently attach to a surface. The hope is that by 2024, the hatchery will be able to sell to growers.

“Oyster aquaculture just opened up here so it’s all very much expanding and this is the next step in expanding the industry here,” said Campbell.

Having an instate option for oyster seed will benefit Delaware growers, as there are regulations in place for importing seed from another state or waterway.

“If a grower wanted to purchase seed from another state, they’d have to go through disease testing, which is not cheap, and go through the permitting process which can take time,” said Campbell. “It’s definitely costly and time-consuming. Whereas, if they can just get it in-state, it’s a lot easier, especially if it’s in the same water body. If we serve people who are in our water body, they don’t have to go through the importation permitting.”

In addition to helping the growers, oyster farming in Delaware can help to improve the quality of Delaware’s water.

“Oysters clean the water and they remove excess nitrogen, so they improve water quality but people can also eat them so they’re a sustainable source of protein,” said Campbell. “They can also provide jobs and can be used for restoration. It’s definitely positive both for the environment and for the economy.”

Having started work at DESG in September, Campbell’s colleagues are excited about how she will help expand aquaculture in the state.

“Alyssa has done a fantastic job,” said Hale. “She has a ton of experience, great work ethic, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she can bring to the role.”

For her part, Campbell is thrilled to be able to work in the first hatchery in the First State. 

“Our goal for the hatchery is to spawn adults and rear those very tiny microscopic babies out as much as we can,” said Campbell. “Then we will either sell them to farmers who buy the seed or we can sell them to people who are building reefs that can be used for restoration. I’m looking forward to this first pilot season. It’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.”

Article by Adam Thomas