They bought a chicken farm along the Choptank River a few miles outside Cambridge. In 1999, they hired McClarren, who was then raising fish in Massachusetts.
Maze and McClarren spent two years constructing a hatchery, where they spawn oysters and rear them on homegrown algae until the bivalves are large enough to move into the river.
Idea reduces risk
In the bay, oysters grow on the bottom. But conditions are not ideal there; sediment from erosion often covers bars, and the oysters are hard to monitor. On the bottom, oysters grow about an inch a year, and that slow rate makes them susceptible to disease before they reach the market size of three inches, according to Karl Roscher, aquaculture coordinator for the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
So McClarren and Maze decided to grow their oysters on top of the water in floats, cage-like structures where they are easily accessible. On top of the water, the oysters also have a steady food source - the algae that comes into the water as a byproduct of excess nutrient pollution, such as nitrogen and phosphorus.
Three of Maryland's commercial oyster growers are using floats, according to Roscher.
"They outcompete the disease - they can get the marketable oyster out before disease kills it," Roscher said. "It's not a fail-safe, but the risks are probably quite a bit less than if they were grown on the bottom."
Many hoops, permits
Before McClarren and Maze could grow anything, they needed permits from no fewer than four state agencies, plus the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Maryland Department of Environment permit alone took two years, because the agency needs that long to monitor the waters for bacteria. State environmental officials still monitor McClarren's water a couple of times a month.
"It takes a long time from the moment you decide you want to run an oyster farm until you can actually sell an oyster," McClarren said.
Marinetics passed state environmental tests. But the neighbors were another story. Wealthy new residents didn't want to look at several thousand oyster floats. The company eventually agreed to some concessions, including moving the floats a little farther north than it would have liked.
Those who follow Marinetics into oyster aquaculture should have an easier time. A 2005 state law set up a coordinating council to streamline permits and make recommendations to the governor on how to promote shellfish aquaculture. Next year, Roscher said, the council will recommend that the state create a revolving loan fund to help with start-up costs.
