How Upwellers Work
upweller schematics
Upweller basics
An upweller is a system used to grow shellfish. Think of it as an incubator for oysters. Each summer, our upwellers receive about 60,000 baby oysters (also called spat). The upweller provides a safe environment for the oyster seeds to grow. The upweller is a system of individual cylinders, or silos, through which ocean water is pumped. The water circulates food and fresh water for the baby oysters.
Where can you find upwellers?
Some upwellers are located directly in the water, some are placed on docks or piers and the water is pumped to their location. Our upwellers are all located on piers, about 10-15 feet above the harbor water.
What happens in an upweller?
The baby oysters (known as “spat”) will be 2mm in size when they are placed in the upweller in June. That’s about the size of a red pepper flake or a grain of sand. Water is pumped into the upweller, which carries with it food for the oysters. Over the summer, volunteers regularly clean and sort the oysters. As oysters get bigger, we move them into different silos so that they all have equal opportunity at the available food and grow at about the same rate. We check on the oysters every day or two. By the fall, the oysters will be 25mm or about 1” in length. This is when they are planted in a pre-organized location.