Submitted by Dan Mazur for Olympia Oyster Seeding Project
Greetings to You from the All Volunteer Olympia Oyster Seed Planting Project. Since 2005, thanks to interested people like you in the Olympia area, our oyster seed planting club has planted more than 150,000 oyster seeds around Budd Inlet, East Bay, West Bay, and surrounding areas such as Cooper Point, Steamboat, Boston Harbor, Eld, Carlyon, Henderson, Fishtrap, Totten, Johnson, and Nisqually.
You may know that our bay is kept clean by shellfish naturally filtering the water and that 1 oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day? Not only do oysters clean the water, they remove nitrogen that causes algae blooms and red tides, enhance water clarity, promote eelgrass survival and provide excellent habitat for myriads of juvenile fish. Oyster shells can foster abundant micro sea life in previously damaged areas.
We plant oysters on public shorelines for everyone to enjoy, and also on private beaches for waterfront residents. Some oyster club members are tideland owners, some live near the shore, some members just want to lend a hand, other oyster club participants live away from the shore, but deeply appreciate Puget Sound and make a financial and/or volunteer contribution to planting public “oyster gardens” enjoyed by everyone.
Please Note: You won’t want to eat these oysters as Olympia Harbor has been used by heavy industry and is subject to waste treatment outflow. That is why we are planting the oysters: To Clean Up the Bay.
My name is Dan Mazur and I live at 2017 East Bay Drive. I really enjoy living and working on the shore of Budd Inlet. I assume you appreciate good water quality and want to keep our bays beautiful. This year we are going to plant the oysters during September. It’s a lot of fun, so please join our team!
We Warmly Welcome you and yourr family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to join as a member, contributor and an oyster planting volunteer!
We are selling bags of oyster seeds and delivering and planting them in the bay for free. Each seed is a tiny live oyster, about the size of your thumbnail. These seeds will mature into full-sized oysters in a year or two. In order for the seeds to grow-up and not be eaten by seagulls, they need to be in “grow-bags”. If you want a grow bag containing 100 seeds to be planted in the bay, we will be filling orders for those no later than August 25, so please mark your calendar. The price is $42.50 for a grow bag to be installed at your chosen spot, or in the spot volunteers choose in case you don’t mind where. We accept checks payable to “Dan Mazur”, and credit cards (prices include sales tax). Include planting for free.
If you have sponsored grow bags in previous years, then we suggest you or our oyster volunteers open them and spread last year’s larger oysters on the beach, and keep the bag in place with the smaller oysters still inside, then “recharge” the bag with new seeds. We are also taking orders for the seed “recharges” prior to August 25. The price for 100 seeds to be “recharged” is $18.50, tax included. PRICE INCLUDES MAINTENANCE AND CHANGING OF YOUR OYSTER GROW BAG.
So please be ready for us to fill your orders for grow bags and oyster seeds before August 25th. Thanks for caring about Good Water Quality In South Puget Sound!! Questions or comments are welcome:
Yours Sincerely, From the 14th Annual Olympia Oyster Seed Planting Project!! Care of: Dan Mazur, 2017 East Bay Drive, Olympia, WA, 98506, phone 360-570-0715, email: danleemazur@gmail.com
Featured photo credit: Betsy Peabody
