This report form is designed to provide NH Fish and Game biologists with information about the presence of gapers.

WHAT IS A GAPER?
Due to stress caused by a variety of sources (disease, temperature, pollution), oysters can become so weak that they don’t completely close their shells.

These weak oysters are known as gapers. They will have some meat inside, but they remain slightly open when you handle them out of the water and they usually will have a foul odor.

NH Fish and Game biologists, as well as other shellfish researchers, want to know if you are seeing gapers in your catch because they indicate that something has gone wrong in the environment.

If you have found gapers while oystering, please complete the following report to help document your observations.