Gapers

Sick oysters can become so weak that they don’t completely close their shells. Known as gapers, these over-stressed oysters may look fine and have meat inside, but they remain slightly open when you handle them out of the water and they have a foul odor.

NHFG wants to know if you are seeing gapers when harvesting oysters because the presence of gapers may suggest a problem, such as disease or pollution.

Please report your gapers online or by calling Bruce Smith at NHFG at (603) 868-1095.