One hundred tons of granite were dumped near the mouth of the Piankatank River on July 18, in an effort to build the largest oyster reef “on the planet,” said Andy Lacatell, Virginia Chesapeake Bay Director of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Richmond.
The oyster planter Capt. Ellery, owned by W.E. Kellum Seafood in Weems, used water cannons to off-load granite stone in two 50-ton increments to the river bottom. The granite is a foundation for growing oysters in what is planned to be a 250-acre reef. The 100 tons of granite off-loaded covered 15 acres of the reef, said Alex Novak of TNC.
The deadrise vessel Linda Carol, owned by Capt. Shannon Green, carried a group of conservationists, politicians and dignitaries out to the reef to celebrate the recent allocation of $1.5 million to the state’s oyster restoration program by the General Assembly and Gov. Ralph Northam…
