How do you find oysters?

Answer 1

you find oysters by searching them Whoever gave this answer above is a genius, clearly... I mean, you find oysters by searching them... Is that supposed to be searching for them? I dunno, either way, clearly a genius at work there. Here's my answer: By hand, and finding the right spot and doing a good bit of searching. Like most other types of shellfish you can find oysters in bays, inlets, lakes, marshlands or other shallow spots attached to larger bodies of water, and sometimes even ponds. Tidal areas where the floor of the body of water becomes fully exposed at low tide (like some parts of the large bay of Cape Cod) can be one place to look. However sea gulls eat them so it can be hard to find them in these areas where the tide goes completely out, but you'll see the left over shells of many different sea creatures everywhere. There are many different types and species of oyster (some types of shell fish which are commonly called oysters aren't even in the oyster family at all) so you can find them in both freshwater and marine environments. Oysters tend to group together and form oyster beds, so where you find one you're likely to find many more. Unlike clams, but similar to mussels, oysters are capable of attaching their shells to things, so you can find them growing off of piers, docks, rocks, and any other solid stationary objects in the water. That is actually how they are commercially raised and harvested. Fishermen have ropes that they suspend in the water, by buoys or other ways, in fisheries and they grow the oysters on the rope itself. I've even heard references to oysters growing on trees in the Caribbean, but it was never clarified if these trees were partly submerged or not and I've never seen it myself. If your seriously trying to find some oysters my best suggestion would be to go to the ocean, find a marshy inlet where its shallow but the tide never completely drains out all the water and look around for some partially hidden spots where the oysters might latch onto. The type of area I'm talking about would be something like a very small public boat launch where people field tiny 1-2 person pleasure craft like kayaks or canoes to access a larger area of water. Small, like, might not even have a dock kinda small and hopefully doesn't see too much traffic. MANY familes enjoy taking their children to these areas to hunt for crabs and other shellfish just like your looking to do, so the less known and less popular the spot the more likely it hasn't already been picked clean. That said, you would be better off going to do this earlier on in the year before the summer season brings in thousands of vacationers, many of whom who will end up doing exactly the same thing your planning on doing. I'm probably venturing too much into the realm of speculation here, so I could be wrong about this: I believe of the many different species/varieties of oysters, a greater number of the types are better suited to living in colder waters, so you're more likely to find a larger variety of oyster types in northern waters. But then again its probably also a regional thing, so the variety might be greater in the northern waters, but nonetheless still spread out over the great distance that covers, and therefore the varieties found would differ from area to area and all types wouldn't be found at any one particular spot. That probably wasn't even worth mentioning I suppose. I should probablly mention that this information comes from my experience and that's all related to my time on Cape Cod so it may not exactly translate well relevantly to places on the west coast like Cali or down south like Florida or the Caribbean. But they aren't that different so this info should still be relatively useful. Also an important thing to be aware of about oysters is that they essentially eat stuff by filtering it out of the water, and therefore a lot of the stuff in the water gets into them and stays there. An important thing to remember and consider if your thinking about eating these oysters you find. Because if the water they are in is polluted, so are they, and I know I've seen beaches shut down before because of bacterial considerations (waters are tested regularly and sometimes bacteria levels can be high enough to pose health issues) so that might have an impact too. Just be aware of where your getting them and how safe the water is. The local shellfish authorities and/or beach authorities can give you plenty of information relative to these safety considerations. Anyways! Important things to remember: check shallow waters, preferably marshy inlets to the ocean, preferably tidal - so water depth fluctuates and the oysters food supply is replenished with the shifting tides - but not tidal to the point that the water completely drains out and the inlet floor is exposed, try a time of year that's off-season for vacationers or tourists in whatever place you decide to go to, find an area that is not extremely well known or popular like a small boat launch that's out of the way and sees little traffic, look on rocks or docks or other submerged objects, especially partially hidden places where they aren't readily visible and easy prey for the sea gulls like UNDER a dock or in the case of marshy areas push back the sea grass and comb through it a bit. Also, check out things that are out of the ordinary or wouldn't normally be there - I was at the bayside beach at Cape Cod earlier on this summer, it was low tide and I was walking out on the flats and there was a tire partially filled with cement which was being used as an anchor for somebodies small sail boat. The thing was COVERED in mussels and oysters and barnacles. And I mean COVERED. Every inch of the cemented portion had shellfish on it. Shellfish on top of shellfish layered together. Even some of the inside portion of the actual tire had some on it. And inside the tire was a small pool of water with sand at the bottom and there was several dozen of the small sea snails (aboout as big as the tip of an index finger) and several tiny baby crabs (the tiny translucent kind no wider than a fingernail). Strangely enough the sea gulls hadn't even touched it, like they didn't know there was food there or something about the tire turned them away. So check for out of place objects of human origin. Come to think of it you could ask the locals of wherever you end up going to look for oysters, they usually could help give some advice that's good as long as they aren't the angry type of locals jaded by the presence of the yearly vacationers. Those people will usually be rude and tell you to piss-off or worse send you in the wrong direction out of spite. You could ask people in the local offices that give licenses for this kinda stuff, which reminds me that you should become aware of the regulations concerning shellfishing in the area you go to. Many places require you to purchase a temporary license for taking any shellfish and they limit the amount you can gather and specify what you can take and what you can't (size, gender, whether its in a phase of reproduction, etc. depending on what type of fish) and any violation of these regulations can carry heavy fines - especially if your fishing without any license at all. Can run up to several hundred dollars I think. Some places are stricter than others, and I believe this is also a seasonal thing so if you go during off-season you may be free and clear. But I dunno for sure. If push comes to shove and your really having a tough time finding any oysters you could always try digging a little into the sand. Oysters don't really do any digging themselves, clams are the shellfish that do the digging, but occasionally an oyster may get buried in a small amount of sand in the course of the tides going in and out, or people doing stuff nearby could possibly cause this. Be careful if you do some digging though, I've gotten some pretty nasty cuts on my feet from razor clams and regular clams buried a few inches into the sand from just walking barefoot. Their shells are tough and can be sharp, and walking fast through the soft sand got me a couple of nasty gashes on my toes and bottoms of my feet. So digging with your hands could result in similar injuries to the fingers. So don't get over-zealous with the digging, especially because its unlikely to get you much results. Anyways, good luck with your search. Oysters are hard to find... I've only seen a few in my time. Mostly I find clams, razor and regular, snails and the occasional crab. The only thinng rarer than oysters in my experience has been scallops. I've only seen one of those suckers. So find a good spot, spend a little time searching, and with a little luck you'll find some oysters. Good hunting!

Answer 2

Oysters can be found in shallow coastal waters, typically in areas with clean, brackish water. They attach themselves to rocks, docks, or other hard surfaces. You can also find them in oyster farms or in certain restaurants and markets.

Answer 3

Hi there. cool idea! you can buy pet Oysters from www.jellyfish.lk write to them and ask for a pet oyster they will ship it directly to you.. they sell oysters in bulk even pearl oysters.