Oyster Grant awarded to Shore

By Linda Cicoira

A $10,000 grant geared towards oyster restoration and longer growing periods was awarded to the Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission and Long Creek Oyster Company, according to an announcement made Saturday.

The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance and the Chesapeake Bay Trust gave 13 grants to various organizations in Virginia and Maryland to improve and track oyster populations. Five were for Virginia businesses and organizations in Hampton Roads, the Northern Neck, the Eastern Shore and the Middle Peninsula.

The Shore money will be used to build artificial reefs and for the purchase of an oyster sorter for Long Creek that will help prevent smaller oysters from being harvested.

“It is beneficial to the health of the bay,” a spokesperson for the alliance stated. “Keeping those oysters in the bay means more time for them to filter the water.”