SFWMD and volunteers team up to restore oyster reefs in Estero Bay

Scientists from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) accompanied by graduate students from Florida Gulf Coast University and community volunteers will spend the day “planting” oyster reefs in the Estero Bay State Aquatic and Buffer Preserve Saturday, April 4.
The result will be a new, 400-square-meter oyster reef that will enhance filtration and help restore the water quality of Estero Bay, which drains 293 square miles of the region’s watershed.
An individual oyster can filter four to 34 liters of water per hour, removing phytoplankton, particulates, sediments, pollutants and microorganisms from the water. The filtering process improves light penetration into the water, promoting the growth of underwater vegetation.
“The ecological significance and the water quality benefits of the oyster are underappreciated,” said SFWMD governing board member Charles Dauray. “Maintaining and enhancing oyster reefs are significant steps in improving the overall health of our coastal estuaries.”
Fossil oyster shells, contained in wire-mesh bags, were prepared by the graduate students, and will be used as the reef-building materials. District scientists and community volunteers will place the bags, each weighing 20 to 30 pounds, around mangrove islands in the bay. Collectively, the bags will form a reef habitat where oyster larvae can settle and grow to adult size.
Over the next one to two years, settlement and growth of the oysters will be monitored, as will the use of the reef by other aquatic organisms. These reefs will be compared to natural reefs in Estero Bay as growth and settlement occurs.
In collaboration with other state and federal agencies, district scientists have been involved in adaptive management and oyster reef restoration for the past five years. This project builds on previous restoration efforts by the District, FGCU and other agencies to maintain and enhance a healthy living-oyster population in Estero Bay.
The eastern oyster (Crassotrea virginica) is a valued part of the aquatic food chain in Southwest Florida, and oyster beds provide vital habitats for a large number of aquatic organisms.
Oysters and the complex, three-dimensional reef structures they form support numerous species of invertebrates and fishes, such as mud crab, black drum and crown conch.
Oysters themselves are an important fisheries species, and the reefs serve as essential fish habitat for other commercially valuable species.
To volunteer, contact Lacey Smith at 590-7265 or lsmith@fgcu.edu or Lesli Haynes at 590-7242 or lhaynes@fgcu.edu.