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Olympia Oyster Restoration in Puget Sound

Olympia Oyster Restoration in Puget Sound. Brian Allen Betsy Lyons, TNC Betsy Peabody Tristan Peter-Contesse. Goals. Re-establish naturally reproducing populations of Olympia oysters throughout their native range

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Olympia Oyster Restoration in Puget Sound

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  1. Olympia Oyster Restoration in Puget Sound Brian Allen Betsy Lyons, TNC Betsy Peabody Tristan Peter-Contesse

  2. Goals • Re-establish naturally reproducing populations of Olympia oysters throughout their native range • Increase oyster abundance and the ecologic benefits associated with that abundance

  3. Geographic focus – Puget Sound

  4. Progress to date • 7 million native oysters spread at 80 sites since 1999 • 1 acre of tidelands in Liberty Bay enhanced with shell in 2005 and 2006 • Pilot enhancement in Henderson Inlet • 5 acres of enhancements planned in 2007

  5. Partners • Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife • Tribes (Suquamish, Skokomish, Squaxin, Lummi, Jamestown S’Klallam, Samish, Swinomish • Commercial Growers (Taylor, Seattle Shellfish, Oly Oyster Co., Little Skookum) • NOAA Community-based Restoration Program • Public and Private tideland owners • The Nature Conservancy • EPA • Marine Resources Committees • U.S. Navy • National Fish & Wildlife Foundation • Local Governments (King, Skagit, Jefferson, Kitsap, Clallam) • Washington Department of Natural Resources • Reporters (newspapers, magazines, TV, radio)

  6. Where it All Began:1998 – Olympia Oyster Stock Rebuilding PlanWashington Department of Fish & Wildlife

  7. New Directions & Priorities

  8. 1. Habitat Enhancement Emerging as Key Strategy • Enhance substrate with shell near existing populations where substrate is too soft to support settlement • This enables remnant population to recolonize historic areas AND • Maintains genetic integrity of local population

  9. Bulk Shell Placement

  10. Experimental Bag Configurations

  11. Scandia, Liberty Bay

  12. Woodard Bay, Henderson InletThe Nature Conservancy

  13. 2005 phase 1 • Baseline ecological assessment • Larval availability • Recruitment potential • Post-settlement survival

  14. 2006 phase 2 Goals • Continue oyster recruitment monitoring • Experimental 1m2 habitat enhancement plots • Compare post-settlement survival by location and elevation • Expand restoration in 2007 based on lessons learned • Schedule for data collection • Survival assessment in November 2006 • Recruitment monitoring June through September 2006 • Continue oyster and benthic community assessment in experimental plots in 2007

  15. Frye Cove, Eld Inlet, TNC

  16. Dogfish Bay, Liberty Bay

  17. Raab’s Lagoon, Vashon Isl.

  18. Fidalgo Bay

  19. Jackson Park, Dyes Inlet

  20. 2. Seeding in Select Locations • In the absence of genetic information, seeding is only pursued in areas where there is clearly no larval production and no local population to trigger a comeback – and then only if there is a population relatively nearby.

  21. Three methods for producing seed or Transplanting adult oysters

  22. Geographic basins within which we can transfer seed are becoming more restrictive

  23. Monitoring Ecological Services –An Increasing Priority

  24. 4. Searching for Remnant Populations Essential to regional-scale habitat enhancement

  25. 5. Forging the Oyster Salmon Connection • Oyster restoration in the lower intertidal is the missing link in salmon recovery efforts • Quantitative monitoring data on ecological benefits of oyster restoration is essential to securing money

  26. 6. Working more closely with Tribes • Research historic tribal harvesting sites to target restoration activities • Develop notification and partnership programs with tribes for near-shore activities

  27. 7. Determining genetic relationship of each population • Geographic area within which restoration can occur is tightening in the absence of genetic information • Until remnant populations are located, restoration is at a standstill in San Juan Islands and the North Sound.

  28. 8. Establishing more oyster nurseries

  29. 9. Mapping the physical and ecological features of an untouched natural bed -Vancouver Island

  30. 10. Achieving Self-Sustaining populations

  31. Ongoing Challenges • Permitting • Diseases • Exotic species • Seed production • Logistics of larger-scale enhancement • Coordination with other species restoration efforts

  32. Restoration Imperative • We need a system that is productive, full of life and capable of sustaining us. - Looks vs. Substance • Oysters are an essential part of that system.

  33. Why oysters and restoration matter • Improve the ecosystem (filtration, habitat, food) • Give people an incentive to protect clean water and habitat • Make the resource REAL – people need to experience the productivity of Puget Sound to value it.

  34. Abundance ANDLocal Food Production

  35. Olympia oyster Pantheon

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