Posts Tagged ‘oyster restoration’
The Orvis Company of Manchester, Vermont, recently announced a grant award of $10,000 to CCA NH to initiate an oyster shell recycling program and bed restoration in Great Bay. This large estuarine system is fed by six significant rivers and a watershed of 44 communities in New Hampshire and 10 towns in Maine. The bay drains to the Atlantic through the very short Piscataqua River and the oyster bed acreage has declined precipitously. Around 1,000 acres of healthy oyster beds present in 1993 have dwindled to less than 100 acres. Filter-feeding oysters could filter the entire estuary in a few days, but now the filtering capacity is negligible. Siltation, overharvest, nutrient loading, storm-water runoff, disease, and excessive nitrogen are the reasons for their demise. Simultaneously, eelgrass has completely disappeared from portions of the ecosystem. These causes are slowly being addressed, but it is essential to maintain a stock of native oysters in the estuary.
The Orvis Oyster Project will reuse shell currently landfilled by the many regional seafood restaurants serving oysters purchased out of state. Larger volumes of shell may be available at regional oyster festivals in New England. Shell must be stored out of doors for three warm months at an existing site already established at the University of New Hampshire’s Kingman Farm. Collected shell will be used directly in the bay as substrate and in cultivation projects.
The recycling part of the program will involve selling the idea to all the area restauranteurs up and down the coast and scheduling weekly pickups. Robert’s Maine Grill of Kittery has jumped on board already, and we expect other restaurants to follow. Nick Lapointe of the Home Depot in Portsmouth has provided the five-gallon containers and Scott Eldredge of Eldredge Lumber in Kittery has helped out with the easy open lids. Volunteers will drive established routes, exchange empty containers for full ones, and drop the shell off at UNH.
The proposed project will build on the work and research of Dr. Ray Grizzle of the UNH Jackson Estuarine Lab and the cultivation project led by Ray Konisky of The Nature Conservancy. Residents raise oysters in cages suspended from piers until they can be transferred to new beds in the bay. Both individuals will be key to the success of the Orvis Oyster Project.
CCA NH is thrilled with this grant from Orvis. This is an opportunity to directly engage local businesses and indirectly engage the public. An informed public will ultimately influence policy-makers and hopefully alter our personal activities and behaviors.
Tags: oyster restoration
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As the year came to an end, CCA Maryland’s oyster restoration project saw its first transfer of adult-size oysters to a protected area in the Patuxent River watershed.
Volunteers moved approximately 50,000 adult oysters from two sites using a barge donated by American Boating Lifting. One portion of the oysters had been raised to adult size in floats at the St. Thomas Creek Oyster Ranch and another at piers of residents on Hellen Creek.
While adult oysters were being moved, CCA Maryland continued to distribute oyster spat and cages to local residents who hung them from their piers where they will grow.
“This year has been extremely productive in our project,” said McGuire, who also serves as president of the Patuxent River Chapter, which is leading the oyster project. “What is especially pleasing is that we have been able to educate numerous people through this project about the importance of clean water and the value of oysters in filtering water. More than 400 people, most of whom had not been CCA members until they joined the oyster project, became involved during the summer.”
CCA Maryland has consistently looked for partners in this project, involving two scout groups last year in addition to the homeowners, three aquaculturists, local businesses and the state government. CCA Maryland was accepted into Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Marylanders Grow Oysters program and distributed more spat than any other participant. It also benefited from a $25,000 grant from The Dominion Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources.
Tags: oyster restoration
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Over the next year, CCA Georgia will partner with both the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service (UGA-MAREX) and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Resources Division (GADNR-CR) to participate in two oyster restoration projects – the UGA-MAREX’s Fish America Foundation (FAF) project and GADNR-CR’s Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (SARP) project.
In Georgia, 90 to 99 percent of the reefs that existed 100 years ago have disappeared, and the few that still remain are considered to be in poor condition. Realizing the possible devastating effects of this deterioration on area fisheries and marine resources, state board member and chairman emeritus John Duren worked closely with both the GADNR-CR and UGA-MAREX to help bring these projects to fruition.
After attending the Skidaway chapter banquet in May 2009, Dodie Sanders of UGA-MAREX contacted Duren about the Fish America Foundation project. CCA Georgia volunteers will work closely with UGA-MAREX to implement interactive public educational programs that examine the reliance of coastal Georgia’s fisheries on oyster reef communities as well as participate in restoration projects. Sanders hopes that this project will develop a lasting community partnership between CCA Georgia and UGA-MAREX.
The GADNR-CR’s Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership will create two new oyster reefs at Sapelo Island and expand another at Skidaway Island. Several oyster bagging events will take place in Brunswick and Skidaway Island late this winter through early spring.
Tags: oyster restoration
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