Tasmanian oysters are sensitive to changes in water. This means that for periods of time, oysters are affected by different environmental events such as increased rainfall or higher water temperatures. Through a network of sensors, shellfish farmers now have real time information to assist in making decisions for their farming business. And because oysters are ocean sensors, what we learn from them could also assist other parts of the seafood industry.
The Tasmanian Smart Seafood Partnership and Oysters Tasmania have collaborated to build an Oyster Sensor Network and the ShellPOINT data portal. ShellPOINT can be used by shellfish farmers, education providers and research institutes to access real-time data including temperature, salinity, rainfall, tide, and depth to support better decision making.
Teachers can access our new education resource and video and create an account to use ShellPOINT to explore data in the classroom.