August 7, 2017

Group Using Oysters to Stop Erosion at Mordecai Island

by S-FX.com

reclam the bay rctb oyster shell

(Source: Claire Lowe, Press of Atlantic City)

A group of volunteers are working to save a small island in the Barnegat Bay using recycled clam shells and oyster larvae.

For the last three years, ReClam the Bay has been using old clam shells to grow oysters, then transferring those oysters to the bay, where they are building the state’s first “living shoreline” at Mordecai Island. The 46-acre marsh island that runs parallel to the bay side of Beach Haven is eroding at a rate of 3 to 6 feet per year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is also in the midst of a wetlands restoration project there.

The 46-acre marsh island is eroding at a rate of 3 to 6 feet per year.

Mordecai Island is home to many species of wildlife, including endangered birds. ReClam the Bay hopes to help stabilize the wetlands through its project.

ReClam the Bay is a grass-roots organization with a focus on education. It was started about a decade ago by a group of people interested in helping save the environment. The name came from Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County’s phrase: “The best way to reclaim the bay is to re-clam the bay.”

clam and whelk shells with oyster spat
Recyled clam shells and whelk shells covered in spat, or baby oysters, were planted at Tuckerton reef as part of a Stockton University oyster restoration project. (Photo: Craig Matthews, Atlantic City Press)

In addition to its Mordecai Island project, ReClam the Bay works closely with the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program to help repopulate the bay with oysters and clams.

“The clams and oysters, we’re growing them here to plant them in the bay,” Duggan said. “It’s called aquaculture.”

On Friday afternoon, Duggan met fellow ReClam the Bay volunteers Albert Nitche, 75, of Beach Haven and Roselle Park, Harry Patrick Befumo, 52, of Beach Haven, and Dominic Tumas, 71, of Beach Haven and Little Egg Harbor, at the old Coast Guard station at Pelham Avenue.

The all-volunteer group gets oyster larvae — about 2.5 million in just a small drop — from the Rutgers University Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May, and places them in a 15-by-6-foot tank of water called an upweller. They add several bags of recycled clam and conch shells, giving the larvae three days to attach to the old shells and develop into spat.

Read the Full Atlantic City Press Story  >

 

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UNKNOWN

There is limited data available to quantify Wetland and Riparian Buffer Preservation, or updated data to quantify Wetland Acreage. The BBP has obtained funding and will begin assessment efforts for both targets, in the next few years.

 

 Hard Clam abundance has not been updated since 2012. Recovery of the stock will be guided by the Fishery Management Plan for Hard Clams, which is under development with the NJDEP, BBP, and other organizations. Reclam the Bay and other partners have continued to plant clams for restoration purposes. Continued plantings in strategic locations which maximize survival and reproduction is one strategy to pursue in the coming years. This work can use a model developed by Rutgers with BBP funding which identified areas where planted clams could have the greatest dispersal of their larvae and thus potentially maximally contribute to the recovery of the stock.

 Water Withdrawals were over the target in the 2021 report; USGS has not yet completed its latest update, so a definitive determination of status is not available. However, additional NJDEP data show that it is likely that we continue to not meet the target. Per capita water use has gone down, demonstrating the effectiveness of water-saving appliances and practices, but that decrease has been offset by population gains. 


IN PROGRESS

New maps quantifying Submerged Aquatic Vegetation extent were developed, but poor image clarity resulted in a high degree of uncertainty in the total acreage. NJDEP and Rutgers are working to resolve the uncertainty of these maps, and improve the total acreage estimate. Funding has also been obtained for further research and restoration activities. Several groups are developing potential restoration actions.

The USGS has completed the first phase of its study to identify minimum ecological flows in select Barnegat Bay tributaries. USGS scientists compared streamflow statistics between historical and current time periods to better understand trends in watershed flow conditions. This work provides a foundation for developing ecological flow targets in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Similar to SAV extent, funding (approximately $450K) has been obtained by the BBP to complete the remaining phases necessary for threshold determination.

 

TARGETS ACHIEVED

No targets can be considered “Achieved” at this time.

 

NOT ACHIEVING

Several Public Swimming Beaches exceeded their safe swimming standards more frequently than during their baseline time period (2016-2018).

While most beaches are routinely safe for swimming, several problematic areas such as Beachwood, Hancock, Windward, and several lake beaches need track-down studies and restoration to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

Acres of Approved Shellfish Waters decreased from the last report. While this decrease was small, it represents a loss of previously approved waters. Similar to public beaches, track-down studies and restoration work are needed to pinpoint and address sources of bacteria.

 

Group Using Oysters to Stop Erosion at Mordecai Island

(Source: Claire Lowe, Press of Atlantic City)

A group of volunteers are working to save a small island in the Barnegat Bay using recycled clam shells and oyster larvae.

For the last three years, ReClam the Bay has been using old clam shells to grow oysters, then transferring those oysters to the bay, where they are building the state’s first “living shoreline” at Mordecai Island. The 46-acre marsh island that runs parallel to the bay side of Beach Haven is eroding at a rate of 3 to 6 feet per year, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is also in the midst of a wetlands restoration project there.

The 46-acre marsh island is eroding at a rate of 3 to 6 feet per year.

Mordecai Island is home to many species of wildlife, including endangered birds. ReClam the Bay hopes to help stabilize the wetlands through its project.

ReClam the Bay is a grass-roots organization with a focus on education. It was started about a decade ago by a group of people interested in helping save the environment. The name came from Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Ocean County’s phrase: “The best way to reclaim the bay is to re-clam the bay.”

clam and whelk shells with oyster spat
Recyled clam shells and whelk shells covered in spat, or baby oysters, were planted at Tuckerton reef as part of a Stockton University oyster restoration project. (Photo: Craig Matthews, Atlantic City Press)

In addition to its Mordecai Island project, ReClam the Bay works closely with the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program to help repopulate the bay with oysters and clams.

“The clams and oysters, we’re growing them here to plant them in the bay,” Duggan said. “It’s called aquaculture.”

On Friday afternoon, Duggan met fellow ReClam the Bay volunteers Albert Nitche, 75, of Beach Haven and Roselle Park, Harry Patrick Befumo, 52, of Beach Haven, and Dominic Tumas, 71, of Beach Haven and Little Egg Harbor, at the old Coast Guard station at Pelham Avenue.

The all-volunteer group gets oyster larvae — about 2.5 million in just a small drop — from the Rutgers University Aquaculture Innovation Center in Cape May, and places them in a 15-by-6-foot tank of water called an upweller. They add several bags of recycled clam and conch shells, giving the larvae three days to attach to the old shells and develop into spat.

Read the Full Atlantic City Press Story  >

 

Contact Group Using Oysters to Stop Erosion at Mordecai IslandContact Group Using Oysters to Stop Erosion at Mordecai Island
reclam the bay rctb oyster shell
Photo credit: Atlantic City Press