Title:

Oyster Biosensors: Measuring Farmed Oyster Health and Related Water Quality

The Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is a bivalve native to the northeast United States. Oysters are vital to the aquatic environment and are of growing importance to the aquaculture industry. They provide essential services including nutrient filtering, particulate filtering, habitat, reducing wave energy, and substrate stabilization. These services result in increased water clarity promoting aquatic vegetation growth, reduced eutrophication, and healthy nursery and feeding grounds. Oyster farming allows for the increased presence of oysters in areas like Great Bay, New Hampshire (NH) resulting in a healthier ecosystem and economic benefits. In total, the economic benefit of oyster aquaculture in NH was $4.6 million in 2020 with a 774% increase in the value of NH oyster harvest between 2013-2020. In order to continue to increase productivity of oyster farms we developed a system that senses and records the gaping behavior of oysters while simultaneously collecting water quality data. Gaping behavior is how frequently and for how long an oyster opens which indicates they are feeding. This behavior may reveal the health of the oyster and their environment giving oyster farmers a direct look into their farm’s health. By adding water quality sensors farmers will be able to compare gaping behavior to water quality and figure out what environments and farming methods are most suitable to their oysters and farm location. The system is Arduino-based utilizing calibrated Hall Effect Sensors to read gaping distances, Bluetooth connectivity allows data to be read in real time with an SD card recording all data, and the solar panel removes the need of another power source allowing the system to stay out on a farm. This system provides a way for oyster farmers to answer questions they may have about their harvest health, water quality, and farming methods.

Name

Comment*

Comments are viewable only by submitter

Captcha*