The research highlights the success of Virginia’s oyster restoration efforts

Virginia has invested heavily in restoring the Chesapeake Bay Oyster Reef, and a study currently led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS suggests that these management practices are literally rewarding in the Rapahannock River. I’m doing it. The study, recently published in the Journal of Environmental Management, was led by the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences Ph.D. Student Alexandria Marcard presented his results to the Virginia Marine Resources Committee (VMRC) Shelfish Management Advisory Committee on February 19th.

In addition to supporting the local economy, oysters filter the surrounding water and remove algae and excess nutrients while coagulating together to create large coral reefs that serve as habitat for many fish and marine animals. It forms. Once abundant, the Chesapeake Bay oyster population collapsed in the mid-1980s due to a combination of overfishing and disease. While the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has been working to increase wild oyster resistance to toxic pathogens, VMRC oversees efforts to regulate Virginia’s fishing and restore oyster reefs.

“Oyster restoration usually focuses on replenishing shells. This replenishing involves the spread of oyster shells across existing coral reefs that grow with young oysters. This was an exciting project, because , because they evaluated the benefits of supplementation activities both biologically and in fisheries,” said Marquardt, who collaborated on research with faculty and scientists at Batten School & Vims and VMRC.

“Although oyster reefs in public fishing grounds have been hardly studied, we have seen great benefits from modest replenishment. When combined with rotating harvesting, the underlying coral reef structure is maintained and commercial harvesting is achieved. has increased.”

This study strengthens VMRC’s current three-year turn-harvest protocol, known as SPAT, increases immediately after shell replenishment, and market-sized oyster density peaks after 3 years. That’s what it was. SPAT density is very variable, but due to the high amount of brown shells, it is the highest in years, and is a measure of coral reef health, referring to the amount of oysters and shells above the bottom sediment layer. Marine protected areas have been shown to have a higher market oyster density, providing protection from larger oyster commercial fisheries and potentially providing valuable egg-laying capabilities for the fisheries.

VMRC launched its shell refill program in 2000 and carried out a turn-up harvest in 2007. These practices have steadily increased the brown shell volume across the Rappahannock River, increasing the likelihood of an aquarium meeting daily harvest restrictions. Overall, this study showed that oyster harvests have steadily increased along with improvements in oyster leaf, and that the market’s oyster density has increased significantly since 2018.

Since the harvest season of 2007-2008, more than 500,000 bushels of oysters have been harvested from the Rappahannock River, worth more than $24 million. VMRC has invested more than $14 million in restocking the river since 2000.

“It’s rewarding to see that science-based management of this fisheries is benefiting both the environment and the local economy,” Marquardt said. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with VMRC to contribute to Virginia’s sustainable oyster industry.”