FAIRHOPE, Ala. - The 2011 Mobile Bay Oyster Gardening Program, a project of the Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center on Dauphin Island, kicked off last weekend when young oysters, known as “spat,” were distributed to homeowners around Mobile Bay. Twenty-six gardeners on the Eastern Shore retrieved their spat Saturday, along with 23 other homeowners along Fort Morgan Road in Gulf Shores and on the north side of Dauphin Island.

The gardeners are expected to transfer their oysters to small cages and suspend them by rope above the floor of the bay from their wharfs. The cages will be cleaned weekly to remove predators, including blue crabs and oyster drills, an invasive snail that has terrorized native oysters in Mobile Bay in recent years.

In November, the oysters will be released on unpublished restoration reefs, which are hard-bottom sites that have historically supported oyster colonies.

“The difference between our oysters or just putting shell out is their advanced stocker size, and in November, when they are planted, they’ll be prepared to spawn the next spring,” said P.J. Waters, program coordinator. “We’re in our tenth year, and we’ve already seen some evidence of these oysters going on to spawn out in the bay.”

Each volunteer gardener received 100 oyster shells loaded with spat, which are expected to produce about 1,000 oysters by the time they are transferred in November. Waters said that 400,000 oysters have been planted since the program began as a master’s degree thesis project of Auburn University student Kim Hamilton in 2001, and the program is back in full-swing after the BP oil spill last year minimized their efforts.

“We’ve got 49 volunteers overall, which is a few more than years past, so we hope to see more measurable results,” he said.

Jerry Perez, who has been gardening oysters as a volunteer for the last five years, said he finds the process enjoyable.

“You wouldn’t believe how quickly they grow,” he said, “some of them look like they could be on your plate.” Perez joked that, “they told me they were too expensive to eat, though.”

Waters said there were a few conditions that needed to be met to be a gardener, including access to water with a pier and a location that is considered open to shellfish harvesting. Potential volunteers must attend a workshop when becoming involved with the program. For more information, or to register for a future workshop, call 251-438-5690 or visit www.oystergardening.org.