Restoring reefs, creating hope: Oyster restoration project resonates with coastal Florida community
September 19, 2006
Volunteers attach oyster shells to mesh mats that will encourage the
growth of new, healthy reefs in Mosquito Lagoon..
© The Nature Conservancy
When Anne Birch, director of the Indian River Lagoon Program, began coordinating an oyster restoration project with the University of Central Florida last year, she had no idea it would become a full-time job. Someone else’s full-time job.
In October 2005, the Conservancy issued a call for volunteers to assist with the restoration project. The response was overwhelming—so much so that Anne had to hire a full-time assistant, Gayle Hoffman, to coordinate the community outreach.
The oyster restoration project’s popularity is credited to the project’s simple, tangible premise. Volunteers attach oyster shells to 18-inch mesh mats. The 4,500 mats would serve as the building blocks to restore 40 acres of intertidal oyster reefs in the Mosquito Lagoon, a part of the Indian River Lagoon where reefs have declined. When weighted down on the sandy bottom of the lagoon, the mats encourage new oysters to settle, increasing oyster growth and other wildlife that depend on the reefs. Within a year and a half of being placed on the reefs, the mats will be covered in healthy oysters.
"It’s a hands-on activity that is unlike anything else out there. People understand the benefit that oysters provide to the lagoon."
Anne Birch
Director, Indian River Lagoon Program
More than 2,500 volunteers, ranging from school groups to the crew of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, have made oyster mats since the project launched in October 2005.
"People know they are doing something positive for the Lagoon," Anne said of the project’s appeal. "It’s a hands-on activity that is unlike anything else out there. People understand the benefit that oysters provide to the lagoon."
The oyster mats are the brainchild of Dr. Linda Walters, a professor at the University of Central Florida. She found that recreational boat traffic in the Mosquito Lagoon was dislodging oysters from reefs within the boat channels. However, a large amount of healthy reefs remained away from the boat channels. Dr. Walters devised a plan to “plant” oyster mats there, creating an alternative to increased regulation of boat traffic, to keep oyster reefs healthy. The Canaveral National Seashore is helping to identify the exact sites where the oyster mats will be placed during the spring of 2007.
The Mosquito Lagoon oyster restoration project is funded by The Nature Conservancy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Community-Based Restoration Program. The Conservancy’s funding component for the project is supported by the Coastal Conservation PATHways Fund. The Coastal Conservation Fund allows the Conservancy to continue its pioneering conservation work in coastal waters across the United States and internationally.
For More Information:
- How We Work: Oyster Restoration Fact Sheet (pdf)
Studies have shown that free-swimming oyster larvae will settle on virtually any available hard surface. However, their chance for survival is much greater when they settle on other oyster shells because these provide small oysters the best protection from predators.
- Where We Work: Indian River Lagoon
The Indian River Lagoon is the most diverse estuary in North America, harboring 50 imperiled plant and animal species.
- Where We Work: Florida
The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 1.1 million acres of critical natural lands in Florida.
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