![]() Having fewer oysters in our estuaries is not only an environmental concern but also an economic one. Without reefs, coastal ecosystems can’t benefit from the services oysters provide, such as water filtration, fish habitat and shoreline stabilization. The production of healthy reefs isn’t possible without the sturdy foundation needed to support growth. Methods used to collect oysters often remove the substrate larval oysters need for settlement. ![]() In the past century or so, roughly 90 percent of North Carolina’s oyster population has been wiped out by disease, pollution and loss of substrate from overharvesting, Fodrie explains.įisherman Adam Tyler helped choose locations for and monitors the research sites. “We figured, why not use this natural growth to our advantage and build some reefs?”įodrie, along with colleague Niels Lindquist, collaborated with commercial fishermen Adam Tyler and David “Clammerhead” Cessna to begin a broad-scale pilot study designed to test the effectiveness of using crab pots as substrate on which to build oyster reefs. “En route to our research sites, we would encounter mangled crab pots covered in oysters,” says Joel Fodrie, a fisheries ecologist at IMS. Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute of Marine Sciences, or IMS, were inspired - while working on multiple oyster reef restoration projects - to make havens out of these hazards. Division of Marine Fisheries, or DMF, conducts an annual sweep to remove these lost or abandoned pots, but a few stragglers stay hidden, lurking beneath the surface for months or even years. Your financial contribution, as well as the generosity of opening your pier, represent sustainable health and wellness to the Chesapeake Bay watershed.Fisherman David “Clammerhead” Cessna and Joel Fodrie inspect derelict pots deployed at shallow and medium depths. The full-service program is a maintenance-free and hassle-free way to contribute to the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
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