Community Action Interview with Sarah Vanacore

Originally, Sarah Vanacore wanted to be a nursing major. However, after learning about marine science at the University of Maine in her junior year, Sarah began to look into aquaculture. First drawn to scallops, she finally fell in love with oysters after working at Glidden farms. 

She believes that oyster farming is a vibrant, growing industry in Maine. It is, in her words, “one of, if not the most sustainable fishery farm practices.” This is partially because oysters don't need to be fed, instead they eat what’s already in the environment, which is beneficial to the health of the waterways they inhabit. Many of the pollution concerns, such as excess nutrients or waste in the water, are not concerns for oyster farmers, making oyster farming environmentally friendly. 

In her own opinion, oyster farming should be expanded and she feels that this could be done should more people become willing to start their own farms, something she’s already seen throughout Maine. The key to oyster farming’s expansion is its accessibility; in Canada, big companies buy up smaller farms, but Sarah would like to see it available on a smaller scale. She believes that there may be a difference in the way small and large oyster farms run, with those running on a larger scale perhaps paying less attention to the look of their oyster and those farms running on a small scale paying more attention to the look of their oysters. 

However, despite all the benefits that come with oyster farming, especially small-scale oyster farming, weather changes may pose a threat to oyster aquaculture in the future. Extreme weather forces oyster farmers to adapt their practices. For example, if there has been a certain amount of rain in twenty-four hours, then the river is closed and oysters cannot be harvested. Heavy storms may cause runoff into waterways, which would pose a risk to humans who consume the oysters, this being a factor in the closure of the river after extreme rain. In the time that harvesting is halted, a backlog may affect local restaurants and customers. Sarah’s own company, Glidden Point Oysters, works closely with small businesses in the nearby area that may be financially damaged by such a backlog. 

Another development that may come out of weather patterns is the method of oyster harvesting. Once oysters are taken out of the water, they have to be cooled to a certain temperature and put on ice for two hours, a method that differs from those of the past, when there was a five-hour gap between the time the oyster was taken out of the water and when it was cooled down. Warm air temperatures encourage the growth of vibrio, a naturally occurring bacteria found in seawater that build up in the tissues of oysters. Vibrio can sicken human beings, meaning that hotter air temperatures may continue to change the way that oysters are harvested and stored post-harvest. 

Sarah believes weather changes will eventually affect Maine aquaculture. Right now, the effects are minimal, however, in the South, oyster farmers fight biotoxins, which causes more river closures and more non-consumable oysters. During our interview, Sarah couldn’t say if this outcome could be avoided, as the health of the river and the health of the environment are so deeply important when it comes to the health of a lobster. 

~Interview conducted by Ogechi Obi