The Department of Natural Resources, the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration held a public information session Wednesday at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum about major oyster restoration efforts on Harris Creek.
DNR Shellfish Director Mike Naylor was present along with other agency staff to answer questions and seek public comment about the project.
With presentation boards surrounding the room, visitors were encouraged to take a circular “tour” beginning with basics about the Chesapeake Bay oyster population, and leading to specific details about the plan and maps of past oyster restoration efforts on Harris Creek. The intent of the project is to expand the footprint of historic oyster bars in the creek to 300 acres and to seed the reefs with spat on shell and adult oysters. The restoration project is designed to foster reproduction, stability and growth. Video modeling of potential natural spat movement offered a look at possible outcomes of this project.
Shell and oyster seed have been planted in Harris Creek for at least the last 50 years, but the continued harvest along with other factors such as pollution and disease impacted the bars negatively. All oyster bars in Harris Creek continued to decline over the past 5 decades in spite of the restoration efforts. In 2009, all of Harris Creek was declared an oyster sanctuary, and oyster harvesting is now prohibited in the Creek’s waters. With the large scale restoration effort, the expectation is that both bar sizes and the general population of oysters will increase to “restored” levels – defined as “at least 15 oysters per square meter, preferably 50”. At present, 11 small sections of oyster bars in Harris Creek meet the definition of “restored bars.”
Large scale reef restoration could begin this year, after the $7.5 million in oyster restoration was approved in State funds. The Army Corps of Engineers is scheduled to begin building new reefs in 22 acres of Harris Creek this summer. A variety of new substrate materials will be tested, from clam shell to concrete and other artificial materials.
To see the presentation in its entirety, click here.
To offer your comment about the project, contact Eric Weissberger at DNR, Claire O’Neill of the US Army Corps of Engineers, or Stephanie Westby of NOAA.
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