- September 6, 2024
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Under the docks at Bayfront Park, 40 vertical oyster gardens recently became new real estate for marine organisms.
On July 19, residents of The Summit of Lakewood Ranch — a senior assisted living community — joined Oyster Boys Conservation at Longboat Key’s Bayfront Park to watch the installation of vertical oyster gardens (VOGs) that some of the residents helped build.
Oyster Boys Conservation previously installed 40 VOGs at Bayfront Park in partnership with the town of Longboat Key and the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program. The town’s contribution to the newest installation of VOGs was $500.
The SBEP also contributed to the VOG installation at Bayfront Park, which is a part of the organization's commitment of $10,000 for VOG installations and community workshops in the area, according to Oyster Boys Conservation President Dom Marino.
VOGs are made by drilling holes into the center of recycled oyster shells that often come from local restaurants. Twenty oyster shells are strung onto a piece of rope, which is then mounted to a board. There are 10 strands per board, which then get installed on the bottom of a dock so the VOGs can hang down into the water.
According to the SBEP, many shorelines in Sarasota Bay are lined with seawalls, which reduces the amount of available habitat for filter feeders. The old oyster shells become available space for marine organisms like mussels, barnacles, sea anemones and juvenile oysters.
Oysters are also important filter feeders and filter water while consuming microscopic phytoplankton. According to many sources, one adult oyster can filter as much as 50 gallons of water a day.
Once the recycled oyster shells are collected and drilled, creating the suspended VOGs is as simple as threading rope through the oysters. That’s where residents at The Summit of Lakewood Ranch come in.
The organization's partnership with The Summit of Lakewood Ranch is mutually beneficial — residents help build the VOGs which gives them something to do, and sometimes the opportunity for a field trip, Co-Director of Field Operations for Oyster Boys Conservation Vince Marino said.
“When you bring them something new and exciting, they get pretty fired up,” Vince Marino said. “They also get that sense of purpose because they're able to help the community. And this is even more spectacular because we can get them out into the community.”
President of Oyster Boys Conservation, and Vince’s brother, Dom Marino formerly worked at The Summit of Lakewood Ranch and started this partnership. Vince Marino also said the partnership is personal. The brothers’ grandmother was in a similar facility, so they understand how events like this can have a positive impact on a resident.
At Bayfront Park, the residents were excited to see their creations be put to use. Many said they mark their calendar with the date when they get to help the Oyster Boys create the VOGs.
Another enjoyable aspect is the education component, hearing about how these VOGs help the ecosystem, resident Beverly Pillot said.
Oyster Boys Conservation is also starting to offer program hours for Riverview High School’s International Baccalaureate program, according to Vince Marino.
The nonprofit organization mainly installs VOGs for projects from Palmetto to Charlotte Harbor, and being able to play a part in clean water efforts while having an impact on local communities is what Oyster Boys Conservation is all about.
“The mission is to help clean the water, so being able to see a problem and apply a solution, that’s probably the most meaningful,” Vince Marino said.
