MILTON — In celebration of National Estuaries Week, the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension will offer a “Cooking from the Estuary” workshop.
The event is 9-11:30 a.m. Sept. 20 at the UF/IFAS Santa Rosa County Extension Office, 6263 Dogwood Drive in Milton. The cost is $12.
Workshop participants will learn about local estuaries, seafood that comes from them and its nutritional values, purchasing seafood with a visit to Rollo's Seafood Market and simple, tasty recipes to prepare and sample.
"Shrimp, blue crab and many species of fish depend on our local estuaries,” Chris Verlinde, with the UF/IFAS Santa Rosa Sea Grant Office, said. “Places like Blackwater and East bays, the Santa Rosa Sound, Mulat Bayou and Williams Creek are home to local seafood species."
Estuaries are places where freshwater from the Blackwater, Yellow and Escambia rivers meet with saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico. The waters mix within the estuary and provide nutrients for many species of wildlife.
Oyster reefs, salt marshes and seagrass are habitats found in estuaries and provide food and shelter for many species of marine life. Estuaries are known as nurseries or places where life begins for many species of marine life.
For more information contact Chris Verlinde, chrismv@ufl.edu or Ginny Hinton at ginnyh@santarosa.fl.gov or (850) 623-3868.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: ‘Cooking from the Estuary’ workshop set Tuesday