Overwintering Oysters in Wellfleet

In late February, 4 members of our team helped Johnny “Clam” Mankevetch from the Wellfleet Shellfish Department remove oysters from their overwintering pit to get them back in water. This winter's pitting was a success! Our partnership with the Town of Wellfleet, Cape Cod has continued to grow and our 2023 work together is off to a great start.

Johnny is in the pit in the first photo, in good spirits. Mass Oyster volunteers Mark, Wayne and Damon, as well as Mass Oyster staffer Erika, happily assisted.

For the uninitiated, farmers remove oysters from the water for cold storage over the winter due to risk of ice and movement. Whether using a pit/cellar or refrigeration, oysters enter a state of dormancy when winter temperatures set in. Pitted oysters aren't looked at for a few months, and when they're uncovered you hope that survival was high. Regardless, the smell can be overwhelming!

After removing oysters from the Town’s overwintering pit, it was time to get them back into the water. The hope is to both support local recreational harvest and to build local populations. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and in doing so reefs of oysters can form that support biodiversity, mitigate the affects of climate change and improve water quality.