Oyster Seeds of Change
Longtime veteran and trailblazer in the Gulf Coast aquaculture community, Josh Neese founded The Florida Oyster Trading Company as a regenerative resource provider for local oyster farms. In April 2021, they secured a $25k loan through Steward to develop a micro-hatchery and nursery to grow native seed for the Greater Pensacola Bay System oyster farmers, which provided capital for setting up oyster seed production, including tanks, lab supplies, some marketing costs, and certifications needed to launch production.
Their build-out for oyster seed production is now complete and participation in the Pensacola Oyster Cluster has eclipsed expectations with five participating farms comprising nearly every oyster farm in the Pensacola region. The Florida Oyster Trading Company is working in collaboration with the Florida Sea Grant Extension & Education Program to develop a program to introduce a new generation of oyster farmers. They will soon be demo-ing wet storage for cluster farms, which by integrating the system into their processing operational procedures, will provide business continuity in the event of the increasingly frequent harvest closures, providing value added quality to the harvests and ensuring they still have ample stock to sell.
In other exciting news, The Florida Oyster Trading Company just received a grant from The Nature Conservancy for supporting oyster aquaculture restoration (SOAR). Partnering with the team at Smart Oysters⏤a SaaS platform for oyster aquaculture farm management⏤they will provide each cluster farm with a one year subscription to help develop a “restoration market” for local oyster aquaculture ecosystem services, such as carbon removal, nitrogen sequestration, and water filtration. These efforts will mitigate anthropogenic impact and promote the growth of seagrass, improved dissolved oxygen, and the health of lower trophic populations. The SOAR grant will cover the Smart Oyster subscriptions and participating farms will trade their ecosystem services for revenue, serving as the framework for a Community Supported Aquaculture program that bolsters the stewardship of estuaries in the communities that rely upon these ecosystems most. Learn more about their loan with Steward.
