Local oyster farmer details operations, calls for more partnerships on living-dock projects

NICOLETTE MARIANO, founder and aquaculture biologist of Treasure Coast Shellfish, told the Natural Resource Board on Sept. 2 that her Sebastian operation leases just under 7 acres from the state and is the only oyster aquaculture farm in Indian River County.

Mariano said the farm uses both diploid and triploid eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and that triploids'which do not reproduce'grow faster and are useful for market sales, while diploids contribute larvae back to the lagoon. "The diploids will spawn and give back to the local environment," she said.

Why it matters: Mariano framed aquaculture as both a business and a habitat-restoration tool. She described oysters' filtration capacity and the farm's role as three-dimensional habitat in an estuary that has lost seagrass. She also outlined operational and regulatory challenges that affect local production, including storm damage, extreme temperatures and gaps in insurance and disaster programs for shellfish farmers.

Mariano described recent environmental and…