Latest news with #oysterrestoration
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
Maryland on track to meet 2025 oyster reef restoration goal, Chesapeake Bay Program says
The Chesapeake Bay Program is on track to meet its 2025 goal of restoring oyster reefs in 10 tributaries – a target set in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. According to the CBP, more than 2,294 acres of oyster reefs have been restored to date – an area larger than 1,340 football fields. Maryland's tributaries included in the oyster restoration effort are in Harris Creek, the Little Choptank River, Tred Avon River, Upper St. Mary's River, and the Manokin River. Maryland is completing restoration work in its the Manokin River, while Virginia has completed restorations in its five tributaries, plus an additional tributary. Oysters play a vital ecological role in the Chesapeake Bay. "Oysters are ecologically valuable as filter feeders that help clean the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its tidal tributaries by pumping water through their gills and trapping food particles, nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment and chemical contaminants," the CBP said. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, according to the CBP. In addition to improving water quality, oyster reefs provide a critical habitat for small fish, worms, and other organisms that serve as prey species. Fish and other marine animals rely on the complex environments oyster reefs create, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Restored reefs also benefit Maryland's seafood industry, which contributes about $600 million annually to the state's economy. Maryland's oyster population has more than tripled in the past 20 years, according to data released Monday by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. The latest stock assessment estimates that more than 12 billion oysters now live in Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
CBS News
21-07-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Century-old shipwreck in North Sea is filled with stash of rare oysters in bid to revive marine species
A cargo ship lying at the bottom of the sea off the Belgian coast has been fitted with a new treasure chest: a stash of rare flat oysters. Molluscs have mostly disappeared from the North Sea due to human activity, including overfishing. Now, a Belgian project is trying to reintroduce it in a move scientists believe will help boost other marine species. "We have to bring them back because they are essential elements in our marine ecosystems," Vicky Stratigaki, an engineer working on the restoration project, told AFP. In mid-July, a load of 200,000 oyster larvae attached to biodegradable materials was deposited about 100 feet under the sea in the ship's hull. The environmental project, named Belreefs, aims to turn the wreckage into a biodiversity sanctuary. Flat oysters form reefs that purify water and that other sea animals, from fish to algae, use as breeding and feeding grounds, explained Stratigaki. "There is a lot of predation in the sea, it's a wild environment," she said, with about 30,000 of the oyster larvae expected to survive their first year at sea. "Then they will start reproducing, extending the reef and also supporting the biodiversity of the reef." The laying of the oyster stash is the culmination of two years' work for the Belgian government project, which is supported by European Union funding. "Until around the 1850s, the North Sea and the European waters were full of these oyster reefs," Stratigaki explained. Then overfishing, the spreading of an imported parasite called Bonamia and "climatic adverse effects" caused them to disappear, she said. The 1906 wreckage, located about 20 miles off the coastal city of Ostend, was selected to house the pilot as fishing and other disruptive activities are banned around it. "In Belgium every wreck that is for more than one hundred years on the sea bottom gets protected automatically as cultural heritage, because it's nice for divers to go there," said Merel Oeyen, a marine environment expert at the Belgian ministry of health. "It's also a hot spot for biodiversity." A 2023 paper published in BioScience found that shipwrecks provide important ecological resources for a wide variety of organisms, from tiny microbes to large marine creatures. "Small fish and mobile crustaceans often find shelter in the crevices of the sunken material, and larger baitfish and predators use shipwrecks as feeding grounds and rest stops as they swim from one place to another," according to NOAA, which helped conduct the study. However, scientists also warned shipwreck can also cause damage to existing marine life in the area, or carry harmful cargo, such as oil. Still, the study's author, Avery Paxton, said shipwrecks can have "second lives" as homes to a variety of marine life. "A ship's transformation from an in-service vessel into a thriving metropolis for marine life has a fairy-tale quality to it," Paxton said in an article published by the Washington Post after the study was released.
BBC News
16-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Conwy: Artificial reef aims to bring wild oysters back
Wild Oysters are set to be introduced into Conwy Bay after an almost two-year delay was brought to an end by a succession of University have been given permission to proceed to the final stage of the project and "reseed" a 660-tonne artificial Matthew Forbes said the project would "finally move towards completion" with the first distribution run set to take place on oysters, once a major part of Wales's fishing industry, have been in decline as a result of over-fishing, changes in water quality, and disease. It was first reported in July 2023 that Bangor University was working with the Zoological Society of London to reintroduce wild oysters into the Council's Harbour Advisory Committee met this week for an update on the at the meeting, harbourmaster Matthew Forbes said the reef was initially "above the marine licensed permitted height"."Over the last couple of years, storms have knocked the reef height down," he Forbes said Natural Resources Wales had agreed the project could now move forward and 76 bags of oysters were ready to be distributed. Meeting chairwoman Joan Vaughan said it would be "lovely" to have oysters in the River Conwy. Native oysters used to be found around Conwy in large numbers but have virtually disappeared in recent beds were a common sight in the Menai Strait and around Wild Oysters Project website said they were a "vital food source" for coastal communities and "contributed" to the Welsh Mumbles or 'Oystermouth' fishery was the largest in Wales supporting 400 fishers across 188 boats. In the mid-1800s Welsh oyster boats reported landing 8,000 oysters daily, but up to 15,000 to 20,000 oysters in some efforts to reintroduce the shellfish in Wales follow a pattern of declining numbers in other parts of the UK.A wildlife project on the East Yorkshire coast is testing a new breeding technique to reintroduce 500,000 native European flat oysters over the next five was also mooted that oysters could return to the Thames as part of an effort to clean London's rivers last year.
BBC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Gold medallist sailor champions Solent oyster restoration
An Olympic gold medallist has joined conservation efforts to restore oyster populations in the Solent, as his team gears up to race on the same waters in this season's Fletcher, who helms Great Britain's team, said it was vital to protect the marine environment sailors share with hundreds of species that live in the strait between the Isle of Wight and global competition returns to English shores in July for the first time in three years, with GB currently second in the standings, just one point behind Australia."We all need to do our little bit to make the world a better place," said Fletcher. The Olympic sailor, who won gold at Tokyo 2020 in the 49ers class, has been joined by teammates, conservationists and children from Emsworth Primary School to learn about the Solent Oyster Restoration said: "It's incredible projects like this that are now rejuvenating the oceans and are bringing the native oysters back here into Emsworth."It's why we're really trying to show what is possible, that we all need to do our little bit to make the world a better place."Fletcher said having a SailGP event in Portsmouth was "massive", adding: "We've got a grandstand that can hold 20,000 people, so I'm hoping we'll have some good conditions, showcase sailing and show how fun it is to watch."We're really happy with where we are at the moment. It's ultimately a long season, but we'd love to take the win in Portsmouth."But while attention builds for the high-speed races, the Solent was once home to a different kind of activity as the site of Europe's largest oyster fishery. Fletcher's teammate Kai Hockley said the restoration project had made a strong impression."I've learnt so much about how oysters help the Solent," he said. "With all the biodiversity it has, we need to make sure to protect it, to keep our Solent as good as it is."The Blue Marine Foundation, which runs the project, said oyster numbers in the Solent have collapsed due to pollution, disease and overfishing. The aim is to boost biodiversity and water quality but it would also help revive the Solent's former ecological and economic role. Dr Luke Helmer, from the project, said: "We used to have Europe's largest fishery back in the 70s and 80s, with around 15 million oysters being taken, which is unfortunately now closed."That was about 840 tonnes a year. It was a huge industry that supported about 700 workers."What we're trying to do now is restore it - not only for that but for the environmental benefits, an adult oyster can filter 100 to 150 litres of water a day."The project team is currently checking out a new four-hectare seabed reef in Chichester, which could home hundreds of thousands of oysters."I think it's really important that all marine users get involved in this, nobody wants to be playing or swimming in muddy waters, and oysters have an important role to play in that," said Dr Helmer. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
CBS News
22-05-2025
- General
- CBS News
Oyster restoration efforts ramp up near Key Bridge collapse site to improve water quality
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has resumed oyster restoration efforts near the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse for the first time in nearly a year. More than 31,000 oysters were planted on Wednesday at Fort Carroll, a sanctuary reef a short swimming distance from where the bridge collapsed in March 2024. WJZ joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation on the Patapsco River to help plant the oysters. Kellie Fiala, the Maryland Oyster Restoration Coordinator with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, says oysters are a natural filter feeder that filters up to 50 gallons of water each day, which clears the way for better water quality and more wildlife. "It's critical," Fiala said. "Oysters used to be a critical part of the economy here, the environment here, and so what we're really trying to do is reconnect people to the water in a healthy and positive way, but also improve the water quality here." Oysters thriving despite Key Bridge collapse WJZ joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation for an oyster restoration effort in March 2024, the day before the Key Bridge collapsed. Fiala said the collapse sparked fear that the debris would stir up sediment and smother the oysters. But, fortunately, underwater surveying shows the oysters are alive and thriving. More than 500,000 oysters to be planted this summer The Chesapeake Bay Foundation expects to plant about 500,000 oysters in the waters this summer. The oysters being planted at Fort Carroll this summer have been growing throughout marinas in the Harbor, tended to by volunteers. This process of "oyster gardening" helps oysters survive their first year of life, when they're most vulnerable. "We want them to improve water quality, provide habitat, and ecosystem services in Baltimore for the people here," Fiala said. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said more than six million oysters have been planted in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. According to the Department of Natural Resources, Maryland's oyster population has more than tripled in the past 20 years. Oysters are crucial for Maryland's economy Oysters are important for the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem, as well as Maryland's economy. Maryland's seafood industry accounts for about $600 million annually to the state's economy. Within the last three years, Maryland has collected a record number of oysters. Oysters also help improve the Chesapeake Bay's water quality, with adult oysters filtering up to 50 gallons each day, according to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that water clarity improvements to the bay could drive up property values in Maryland.
