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Chesapeake Bay Oyster Metrics TEAM report STEPHANIE reynolds WESTBY

Dive into the Oyster Metrics Team's journey to restore native oyster habitats in Chesapeake Bay by 2025. Explore the goals, metrics, and approach for tracking progress towards this ecological mission.

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Chesapeake Bay Oyster Metrics TEAM report STEPHANIE reynolds WESTBY

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  1. Chesapeake Bay Oyster Metrics TEAM reportSTEPHANIE reynolds WESTBY Presentation to Maryland Oyster Advisory Commission May 18, 2011

  2. Oyster Metrics Team: Context • Executive Order 13508: Strategy for Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay Watershed • Oyster Outcome: • Restore native oyster habitats • and populations • in 20 tributaries by 2025 • Oyster Metrics Team convened by Chesapeake Bay Program Sustainable Fisheries GIT • Goal was defined; • Team was convened by GIT to clarify goal and establish common metrics

  3. Oyster Metrics Team: Charge • Develop common Bay-wide restoration goals, success metrics and monitoring and assessment protocols for the purpose of tracking toward the EO strategy outcome (reef-level and tributary-level) • For sanctuary reefs only • Minimum suite of metrics that should be measured across all sanctuary reefs • Should in no way be seen as limiting additional monitoring and research activity. • As always: adaptive.

  4. Oyster Metrics Team: Charge • Membership: • NOAA (Stephanie Westby) • MD DNR (Eric Weissberger) • VMRC (Jim Wesson) • PRFC ( AC Carpenter) • U.S. Army Corps (Angie Sowers) • VIMS (Mark Luckenbach) • UMCES (Ken Paynter) • Consulting scientists • Science-driven consensus process among the primary governmental agencies involved in oyster restoration in the Bay

  5. Oyster Metrics Team: Approach Reef Level: Trib Level: Ultimate goals of restoration: How it functions over time Functional goals Functional goals Operational goals Operational goals Practical goals: What you plan for; put in the water

  6. Oyster Metrics Team: Goals & Metrics Reef Level: • Stable or increasing spatial extent, reef height and shell budget • Oyster density: • Target: Mean density of 50 oysters/m2 and • 50 grams dry weight /m2 • containing at least two year classes • covering at least 30% of the reef area • Minimum Threshold: Mean density of 15 oysters/m2 and 15 grams dry weight /m2 • containing at least two year classes • covering at least 30% of the reef area

  7. Oyster Metrics Team: Goals & Metrics Trib Level: • Restore, to the reef-level goals, 50 -100% of currently restorable oyster habitat. • Recommend that this be pursued in tributaries for which currently restorable bottom minimally meets the ACOE targets related to the percent of historical bottom (min. of 8% of Yates/ Baylor ground) • Trib size: recommend TNC ‘creek’ and ‘small tributary’ size classifications. • (Recommendation- not a goal)

  8. Contact Information Stephanie Reynolds Westby410-295-3153stephanie.westby@noaa.gov

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