11. SEEing Change in Oyster Farming and Aquaculture with Karen Rivara

On our Earth Day edition of SEEChange we are talking about oyster farming and aquaculture with Karen Rivara, President of Aeros Cultured Oyster Co.
Karen was inspired to be a Marine Biologist while watching the “Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau” on television when she was 12.

Today, Karen operates Aeros Cultured Oyster Co. where she grows oysters commercially for food, providing oyster larvae to other farms and to environmental groups that grow oysters for restoration purposes.

Oysters are a critical part of the waterways because they are considered key stone organisms providing habitat for other sea life and also filter feeders that take nitrogen and carbon from water systems and turn that into delicious oyster tissue that can then be consumed. 

Karen’s almost 40 year career in shellfish farming has given her a front row seat to the rapid effects of a changing climate on the waterways and the #oyster population. While her story is a wake-up call for the changes we all need to make to reduce our environmental footprint, it will also leave listeners hopeful for the future as she is seeing oyster populations and overall interest in improving the environment trending in the right direction.