Alter setting, juvenile oysters (spat) were held for approximately three months in land-based flow-through tanks at ambient temperature and salinity at the VIMS Eastern Shore Laboratory (ESL) in Wachapreague, VA and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science's (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory (HPL) in Cambridge, MD.
Prior to deployment, 25 oysters of each species from each holding facility (UMCES HPL and VIMS ESL) were tested for disease.