ScottBorsum,MelanieFuoco,GulnihalOzbay

DelawareStateUniversity,Dover,DE

BaselineMeasurementsofEasternOyster

Populations(Crassostreavirginica)inDelawareInlandBays

OysterBenefits

Ecological• Biologicalengineer• Decreasewaterturbidity• Algaepopulationcontrol• Nutrientsequestration• Benthicnutrientdeposits• Carbonsink• Increasediversity

Societal/Economical• Stormsurgeprotection

• Coastalsedimentstabilization

• Waterfiltration

• Healthyproteinsource• Createsjobs• Increasefishabundance

DelawareInlandBays• 343acresapprovedtobe

leased.

• Wildpopulationofoystersis

poorlystudied.

• Goalistocollectbaselinepopulationdatapriorto

commercialaquaculture.

Objectives

• MeasurethegeneticdiversityofnativepopulationsinLAB

andIR+RB,atspecificmarkers,tosearchforsignaturesof

hatcherylines.

• Measurecurrentabundanceanddistributionofnative

oystersthroughouttheDIBs

Spat Collectors Design

SpatCollectors

• 4locationsperbay;3spatcollectorsateachsite.

• Identifylocationswheresettlementisoccurring.

• Usewildsetspatforgeneticmicrosatelliteanalysis.

SpatCollectionResults

MicrosatelliteAnalysis• Regionsamplifiedareshort

basepairrepeats.

• Highlypolymorphicregionsare

requiredtocomparefrequency

differences.

Surveys

• RipRapusingswathmethods

toacquiredensities.

• Quantifyphysicalcharacteristics

• Goalistodeveloprepeatablemethodsformonitoring.

BaselineandLongTermData

• Longtermenvironmentaldatais

receivinglessfunding,yet

contributingmoreto

developmentofpolicyand

ecologicaltheories(Hughes

2017).

• Essentialknowledgeinordertomitigateeffectivelyto

environmentalchange.

• Requirecleargoals,robustdesign,evaluations,andrigorous

documentation.

• Worksbestwithinclusive

participationandcollaboration

bythescientificcommunity.

NextSteps

• Completesurveysandtestnewprimercandidatesforhighly

polymorphicregions.

• Get50oystersfromhatcherystrainsthathavebeenusedfor

restorationinAssawomanBay.

• Gather,combine,andinterpretwaterqualitytobeginto

addressfactorsdrivingdistributionofoysters

ImplicationsBetterinformmanagers,policy

makers,andconservationgroups

abouttheiroysternatural

resources.

Understandimpactsofhatchery

linestolocaloysterpopulation

dynamics