Reef Innovations
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Reef Innovations

Worldwide contractor for designed reef systems and marine habitat restoration

Norfolk’s Lafayette River Oyster Restoration Article from 2010

  • Chesapeake Bay
  • News articles
  • Shellfish Restoration
https://reefinnovations.com/archives/4290

Retreived from Bay Daily http://cbf.typepad.com/bay_daily/2010/11/exciting-news-from-a-troubled-river.html

Image result for shellfish restoration using reef balls

Exciting News from a Troubled River

11/05/2010

IMG_6491
Great news to report about oysters in, of all places, one of the most stressed river systems in the entire Chesapeake Bay.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) scientists are finding lots of healthy, fast-growing oysters in Norfolk’s Lafayette River, a tributary of the Elizabeth River. The discovery bodes well for improving water quality – and restoring a thriving oyster population – in this historic river.

First, a little background: the Lafayette is the northern-most tributary of the Elizabeth River, a historic
but troubled waterway whose four branches (Western Branch, Eastern Branch, Southern Branch Lrand Lafayette) drain four cities and some of South Hampton Roads’ most industrialized areas. As a result, the Elizabeth system is among the Bay’s worst pollution “hot spots,” with some areas containing bottom sediments laden with toxic chemicals from decades-old pollution.The Lafayette River, bordered largely by homes, museums, marinas, and marshes, is less severely polluted but remains among the most urbanized rivers in the Bay watershed. It suffers from many of the Bay’s classic problems: too much runoff, too many algal blooms, too much bacteria, and too little oxygen.

CBF, the Elizabeth River Project, the City of Norfolk, and other partners are working with theVirginia Institute of Marine Science to restore water quality in the river. All believe that oyster restoration will be integral to success.

DSC_0160To that end, CBF is expanding the number of volunteer citizen oyster gardeners in the Lafayette. Additionally, last summer we placed 50 concrete reef balls, many of them coated with a skin of living baby oysters, or spat, in the river to create a manmade reef. We hoped the reef balls would prove suitable homes for the baby oysters as well as attract and grow more wild oysters.

CBF scientists also began a comprehensive survey of the oyster population in the Lafayette, examining 22 miles of shoreline to look for oysters. We also recruited scores of waterfront residents to participate in a “spat catcher” program.

Spat catchers — small cages containing 50 recycled oyster shells – were suspended from more than 80 SpatCatcherRoundup 040residents’ backyard piers and docks. We wanted to see how many free-floating baby oysters in the river would attach to the shells. By later comparing the numbers of spat in the various shell cages, CBF oyster scientists hoped to determine which parts of the Lafayette may hold the greatest potential for future oyster restoration efforts.

Last weekend, a CBF team of scientists, interns, and volunteers pulled up the spat catchers and tallied the results. Here is how CBF Oyster Restoration and Fisheries Scientist Tommy Leggett described it:

Lafayette.spat“This is one of the most exciting things I think we’ve ever done…We had some of the most remarkable spat sets on the shells that I’ve ever seen in the wild, and especially for the Elizabeth River system. Some shells had spat numbers that rivaled what we produce in our spat-on-shell tanks (at CBF’s oyster farm). “  For example, the shell in the photo at left had a remarkable 28 spat attached (photo by Chip Finch).

A few days later, Leggett, CBF Oyster Restoration Specialist Jackie Shannon, and CBF Reef Ball Technician Laura Engelund inspected the concrete reef balls CBF placed in the Lafayette last June.

“We’ve been anxiously wondering how the oyster spat on the reef balls fared over the summer and didn’t quite know what to expect once we got back this week,” Engelund said. “We were amazed at the size of the oysters! In four months they have grown from baby spat to near market IMG_6484  size. They are significantly larger than we anticipated and cover the reef balls nearly 100 percent. We put in a couple of reef balls without spat and were pleased to find a natural set growing quite nicely on those as well. The reef balls we planted without spat are easy to recognize in the photographs: smaller oysters and fewer in number. But they all got there by themselves!”

Pictures are worth a thousand blogging words, so take a look at what’s happening in the Lafayette.

What does it all mean for the river’s future? The preliminary data suggest there’s a healthy oyster population in the Lafayette River, says Leggett (below, center, with Jackie Shannon, left, and Laura Engelund, right, and one of the Lafayette reef balls).

IMG_6490“But the river has limited habitat for baby oysters to settle upon. Most of the natural oyster bars/rocks are gone, silted over, or have sunk beneath the river bottom. What the river needs now is more oyster shell or hard substrate like reef balls for oysters to attach to.”

And Leggett added, “Efforts to improve water quality by reducing nitrogen from sewage treatment plants and runoff from lawns and storm drains will provide better conditions for a recovering oyster population.”

CBF and its Lafayette River partners will be working to address these issues in the months and years to come. Stay tuned for more good news!

By Chuck Epes

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Posted at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Comments

Feed You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

I read your post. I am a driller but I drill for environmental testing. I like to keep informed so thanks and keep on posting. It was really interesting because I live in Virginia and my Mom lived on the River you are speaking of in this post. I am pleased to here that progress is being made. Thanks again. I really enjoyed it.

September 12, 2016 Reef Innovations

Post navigation

Olympia Oyster Restoration – article 2015 → ← 2013 article Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration.

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  • Home
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  • About
    • The Reef Ball Foundation
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      • Oyster Ball
      • Lo-Pro
      • Mini Bay
      • Bay Ball
      • Pallet Ball
      • Ultra Reef Ball
      • Super Ball
      • Supra Ball
      • Goliath Ball
      • Goliath Ball Modification
      • Goliath Breakwater Ring
      • Goliath Breakwater with Base
      • Goliath with Extended Tall Base
      • Reef Ball on Sloped Base
      • Table Top
      • Model Reef Balls
    • Layer Cakes
      • Oyster Layer Cake
      • Lo-Pro Layer Cake
      • Mini Layer Cake
      • Bay Layer Cake
      • Ultra Layer Cake
      • Pallet Layer Cake
      • Super Layer Cake
      • Goliath Layer Cake
    • Reef Cubes
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      • B Cube
      • C Cube
      • D Cube
      • E Cube
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      • Reef Cube with attached Reef Ball
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      • Juvenile Habitat IJV
      • Mangrove Cultivating Pot
      • Smart Reef
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    • Breakwater Design
    • Deployment
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      • Site Evaluation & Surveys
      • Custom Designs & Models
    • Diving Services
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Coral
      • Living Shoreline / Living Breakwaters
        • Erosion Control Project – Checklist
      • Mangrove Restoration
      • Oyster Reefs
        • Reef Balls produce more oysters.
      • Docks & Along Seawalls – A great place for Reef Balls
    • Habitats
      • Deep Cover Protective Habitat
      • EFH = Essential Fish Habitat
      • Layer Cake Lobster Habitat
      • Micro Habitat
      • Under Dock Habitats
      • Use of Reef Balls in River’s
    • Monitoring
    • Reef Ball Training & QC
    • Side Scan Sonar & DGPS
    • Volunteer Projects
  • Projects
    • Africa – Jambiani 2015
    • Atlantic Ocean Western
      • Bahamas
        • Bahamas – Baha Mar 2014 Cable Beach
        • Castaway Cay – Disney Crewesline
        • Deadman’s Reef Snorkeling the Reef Balls
        • Paradise Cove Grand Bahamas
        • Halfmoon Cay
        • Coco Cay
      • Canada
      • Caribbean Reef Balls
        • Antigua
        • Barbados
        • Dominican Republic
          • Cadaques
          • GRAN DOMINICUS BEACH RESORT
          • Canola Hilton Submerged Reef Ball Breakwater
        • Curacao
        • Jamaica
        • Antigua
        • St Maarten
      • Grand Caymen
      • Montserrat
        • Monstserrat
      • Nova Scotia
      • Turks & Caicos Islands
        • Beaches – Reef Ball Project
        • Providenciales
        • Smiths Reef
        • Pine Cay
        • Grand Turk
    • Europe
    • Mediterranean Sea
      • Spain
      • Italy
    • Mexico
      • Mayan Palace Submerged Breakwater
    • Middle East
      • Bahrain – Reef Arabia
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Bahrain
    • Pacific Ocean – Western
      • Indonesia – Reef Balls
      • Malaysia
        • Talang Talang
        • Sabah
        • Photos from Malaysia
    • US – West Coast
      • Alaska — Reef Balls in ALASKA
      • California
        • Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
        • Reef Ball Reef designed has for California 2013
        • Santa Barbara
        • Reef Ball Reef designed for California
    • US – North East
      • Connecticut
        • Stratford Point
      • Maryland
        • Chesapeake
          • Cooks Point – Reef Balls
        • Stevenson Reef Ball Project
        • Cook Point Reef Ball Site
        • Ocean City
        • Bay Area
        • Perry Hall
        • Talbot County
      • Massachusetts
      • New York
        • Bay Keepers Oyster Restoration Program
        • Jamaica Bay
        • West Harlem Waterfront Park 2006
        • Risherman (Yellowbar) Reef
        • NJ reef food web
      • New Jersey
        • Atlantic City Reef
        • New Jersey Eternal Reef Balls
      • Virginia
    • US – South East
      • Alabama
        • Dolphin Island
        • Alabama Off Shore Reef Balls
        • Coffee Island
        • Mobile County
      • Florida
        • Bay County
          • Mexico Beach, FL
        • Brevard CO
        • Broward County Reef Balls
          • Broward ORB
          • Ft. Laud / Miami
        • Charlotte County
          • Punta Gorda Isles
          • Port Charlotte
        • Collier
          • Naples
        • Dade County Reef Balls
          • Biscayne Bay
          • Loucif Project
        • Dixie County Reef Balls
        • Duval County
          • Charles H Kirbo Reef
          • St Johns River
        • Escambia Count Reef Balls
          • Laars Reef Ball Site
          • Pensacola
        • Flagler County Reef Balls
        • Franklin Count Reef Balls
        • Hernando Co.
          • Hernando County Reef 2017
        • Hillsborough Co.
          • Alafia Banks Bird Sanctuary
        • Indian River
        • Lee County
          • Ft. Myers
          • Midigation Projects
          • Ft. Myers / Naples
          • Cape Coral
        • Manatee Co.
          • Palmetto Eco-Rap
            • 2016 Palmetto Living Seawall Deployment
        • Monroe County
          • Islamarada
        • Oculina Bank home to 105 Reef Balls
        • Okaloosa County Reef Balls
        • Pinellas County
          • Largo
          • Clearwater
          • Maderia Beach
          • St. Petersburg
          • Treasure Island
        • Plam Beach
        • Santa Rosa
        • Sarasota
          • Sarasota County Reef Balls
          • Anglers Reef Sarasota, Florida
        • Seminole
        • St. Johns County
        • Tampa
        • Tampa Bay
          • Tampa Bay Watch
          • MacDill AFB Shore Enhancement
        • Volusia County Reef Balls
          • Daytona
      • Georga
      • Levy County – Nature Coast Biological Station
      • Louisiana
        • Lake Pontchartrain
      • Mississippi
        • FH-6
        • FH-8, FH-9, FH-10, & Cat Island
        • Mississippi FH2
      • South Carolina
        • Charleston
        • Myrtle Beach
      • Tennessee – Fish Habitat
      • North Carolina
        • Long Beach Pier, NC
        • Topsail Reef
        • Wilmington
        • Morris Landing Holly Ridge NC
        • North Carolina – South River Construction Site
        • Englehard, NC
        • Wanchese
        • Town of Oriental, North Carolina
        • Brunswick CO.
        • Topsail Island
      • Texas Projects
        • Galveston
        • Moses Lake
        • Texas – Oyster Lake
        • S Padre Island
        • Baytown
  • Science / Reference
    • Best Practices using Reef Balls on Living Shorelines.
    • Educational Projects with High School / Middle School Students
    • Photos
    • Posters
    • Presentations
      • J McFarlane’s Slide Decks from Presentations
    • Research Papers
      • Breakwater Research
      • Nutrient Enrichment increases severity of coral diseases and bleaching
      • Research – Coral Reefs Soften Ocean’s Fury for Millions of Coastal Dwellers
    • Research site specific, projects using Reef Balls
      • Breakwater Research using Reef Balls
      • Estuary Research projects using Reef Balls
    • Sharks & Reef Balls
    • Restore Act Science Program
    • Video’s
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