Increasing the Capacity for Oyster Restoration Through Community Involvement

Stephen CzwartackiNancy Hadley

Michael HodgesHolly Dyar

Allison KreutzerHana Benton

South Carolina Department of Natural ResourcesOffice of Fisheries Management/Shellfish Management Section

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources• Responsible for the management of all public trust

oysters in South Carolina.

Limitations:• Funding• Manpower• Timeframe for restoration due to spatfall season (May – September)

SCORE ProgramSouth Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement program

• Began in 2000

• ~10,000 Volunteers since

2000

• ~30,000 Volunteer Hours

since 2000

• ~38,200 SCORE Bags

• ~25,500 bushels of shell

• ~573 tons of Shell

• 10 yrs. = ~1.2 acre of oyster

habitat

• Developed a successful

model of volunteer-based

oyster restoration

• Create fish habitat• 1 acre of oyster reef

• Large scale plantings of shell aggregate• Seeded shell (spat collection bags from docks)

• Protect 1-2 acres of salt marsh

• Engage dock-owners with volunteer opportunities• 800 volunteer hours

• Outreach/educational opportunities• Spat collection bag creation• Bag deployment

• Build on Bears Bluff’s reputation of community engagement in the area

Bears Bluff National Fish HatcheryWadmalaw Island, SC

Sciaenops ocellatus (Red Drum)

North Edisto/Wadmalaw River Watershed Communities

•Wadmalaw Island•Johns Island•Seabrook Island

North Edisto River/Wadmalaw River

•Bohicket Creek•Church Creek•Leadenwah Creek•Privateer Creek•Horseshoe Creek•Toogoodoo Creek

North Edisto River Watershed

Dock-owner contact• Cold calls & letters to homeowners

• Charleston County Tax map database• Dock-owner info from DHEC

• Public outreach events• Wadmalaw Island Land Planning Committee Mtg.• Johns Island Council Mtg.• Seabrook Island Natural History Group

• Word of mouth• “Bumpsy”

Volunteer Opportunities• Shell recycling• Make bags to hang from docks

• Community bagging events• Hang bags from docks• Deploy seeded shell to shoreline

Spat Collection Bags• ~8ft. Long• 8 “bubbles”/bag

• ~0.75m2/bag coverage of shoreline

• ~12 shell/bubble• Maximizes surface area of individual shells for

collection of spat

1 Month 3 Months

Planting Site Selection

•Target watersheds

•Maximum acreage

•Sediment size (visually)

•Closed to harvest areas (preferred)• Water quality• Unable to harvest

Large Scale Planting of Shell Aggregate

Planting of Seeded Shell

1m2

• 7 Large scale planting sites• 2707m2/0.67 acres

• 5 Seeded shell planting sites• 687m2/0.17 acres• 951 Bags of seeded shell• 0.75 Bags/m2

•Total area of plantings

• 3394m2/0.84 acres

• 40 Participating docks

•7 Potential sites for 2011

Project Sites

Extending Our Restoration Window

• 1600 Bushels of shell aggregate planted on 475 m2

• 3.13bu./m2. • Seeded shell planted on two 112.5m2 areas

• One planting on bare shoreline• One planting on shell aggregate

95m

5m 22

Seeded Shell on Aggregate

22.5m

Shell Aggregate

22.5m

Large Scale Planting Area

Seeded Shell on Shoreline

22.5m

Combination Reef

Accomplishments

• Volunteers• 40 Dock-owners• 199 Volunteers• 545 Hours

• Oyster habitat• 12 Reefs 3394m2/0.84 acres• Extended the window for restoration by two months

Questions?