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Committee debates seed versus shell planting priorities; leans toward shell in many areas
Summary
SMAC members discussed the trade-offs between moving seed and planting shell, highlighting cost differences and site-specific recruitment conditions; several members favored directing more funds to inexpensive shell plantings where recruitment is already favorable.
VMRC staff and committee members spent substantial time weighing the costs and benefits of seed moves and shell planting. Andrew provided ballpark unit costs: about $7to8 per bushel to move seed with a dredge and $12to15 per bushel for hand-tong seed, versus roughly $2.50to5.50 per bushel for various shell sources depending on distance. "So that's sort of just ballpark price of what that would cost versus other areas," Andrew said while discussing options for moving seed from lower-salinity James River areas to places like Blackberry or the Pocomoke.
Several committee members argued that shell planting offers a faster, more economical way to expand market-size oysters in many high-recruitment areas and suggested prioritizing house shell procurement for areas such as Aberdeen and selected pockets in the York and Mobjack. Others noted that certain low-recruitment tributaries (some Potomac tributaries and parts of the Upper Rappahannock) respond better to targeted seed placement and that limited seed moves remain appropriate in those contexts.
Outcome: the committee asked staff to consider moving some seed only for tightly specified hand-tong areas (e.g., portions of the Pocomoke/Area 10) and to reallocate some seed-search money into additional shell plantings (Muddy Marsh, Dogfish). Staff said unspent funds roll over and that the agency has already received some house-shell offers (~40,000 bushels) that could be split between the Rappahannock and York.
