Shrimp, blue crab and many species of fish depend on our local estuaries. Places like Perdido, Pensacola and Escambia Bays, Bayous Texar, Grande and Chico and Big Lagoon are home to local seafood species.

In celebration of National Estuaries Week, UF/IFAS Extension Florida Sea Grant and Family and Consumer Sciences will offer the “Cooking from the Estuary” workshop. Participants of the workshop will have the opportunity to learn about our local estuaries, seafood that comes from them, nutritional values of seafood, purchasing seafood and simple, tasty recipes to prepare and sample.

Cooking from the Estuary will take place on Thursday, September 22, 2016 at Perdido Seafood Market, 13506 Perdido Key Drive, Pensacola, FL 32507 from 9 am until 11:00 am. Registration is $12.00. To register click here or go to http://Perdido-cooking-from-the-estuary.eventbrite.com

for more information contact Dorothy Lee at dclee@ufl.edu or Rick O’Connor at roc1@ufl.edu or call 850-475-5230.

Estuaries are places where freshwater from the Perdido 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 that are 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.

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