TNCs Bivalve Restoration: History & DirectionDr. Boze HancockThe Nature Conservancy Global Marine Team

AcknowledgmentsNOAA Restoration Center* TNC-NOAA National Partnership for Community-based Restoration* American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)

Private donors including the Kabcenell Family Foundation, Quay Foundation, Shell, and the Turner Foundation

20,000+ volunteers and dozens of Partners

Presentation OutlineI. TNC and marine conservationII. Why bivalves?Global Perspective: Shellfish Reefs @ RiskBuilding momentum nationally and internationallyHow much is enough?Future direction

Our mission compels us to be involved

The mission of The Nature Conservancy isto preserve the plants, animals and naturalcommunities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

TNCs Marine Conservation: International & Complex TNC works in >30 countriesAll coastal US States and most US Territories Four strategic themes of marine work: Marine Spatial Planning / Area Based Management Ecosystem Based Adaptation Sustainable fisheries Critical Coastal Ecosystems: Reefy Stuff (including bivalves)

TNC-NOAA CRP Partnership; 109 projects, 4 National Partnerships, 2001-2010MEFLUSVIHIALLACAWAAKARRA

Why bivalves?Critically important Ecosystem servicesLargely ignored

TNCs Shellfish NetworkA collection of shellfish restoration practitioners - grew from the TNC/NOAA PartnershipAims to share knowledge gained- Practitioners Guide to Shellfish Restoration- TNC Shellfish Restoration ClamorIdentifies future direction for restoration- Met in 2005 and called for the Global Assessment of Shellfish Reefs

LowMediumHighCoral Reefs at RiskA model for Shellfish Reefs at RiskBryant et al, 1998

Shellfish Reefs At Risk: A Global Assessment

Responsibility and Opportunity for Fishery Management & Conservation

Key RecommendationsManage fisheries for rebuildingMap current bedsRemove destructive fishing practicesManage shellfish reefs in the Gulf of Mexico as- the last opportunity left for large-scale native habitat and fisheriesOysters have many hallmarks for better management(i) extensive private rights (ii) populations that can be policed nearshore (iii) clear links between the species and ecosystem structure

International OutcomesSouth American shellfish network emerging - Similar goals to TNCs U.S.-based network: share information & advance conservation and restorationElevate bivalve reefs as an international conservation priority through multi-lateral conventions: e.g., Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

ISSC - Shellfish Restoration Best Practices ISSC = Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference

Dual mandates: - Protect public health by ensuring safe shellfish at market - Promote shellfish restoration

Sometimes viewed as conflicting mandates particularly when restoration is needed in closed waters

Best practices for restoration projects in closed waters would validate both mandates

ISSC - Shellfish Restoration Best Practices Restoration projects in closed waters in nearly all statesStates have very different perspectives about the risk associated with restoration in closed waters around US (or of having dense populations of bivalves, generally, in such areas)Both human health and environmental health needs are critically important to societyImperative to work together to find a solution ISSC initiative timely and a tremendous opportunity to improve overall management

Building momentum - Scales of projectsSmallMediumLargerBut, mostly, still working around the margins

ARRA projects

Alabama 100/1000100 miles of oyster reef, 1000 acres seagrass/saltmarsh

Joe Fudge, Daily PressHow much reef is enough?

Examples of existing goalsChesapeake Bay Program = 10% historic abundance by 2010 (aspirational, not the end-point)US Army Corps of Engineers, for individual Chesapeake tributaries = 40% historic extentExecutive Order, Chesapeake = 20 tributaries restored by 2025Great Bay, New Hampshire NEP, 20 acres by 2010

Development of national-scale oyster reef restoration goalsSCALING RESOTRATION FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES Water filtrationFisheries production (non-oyster )DenitrificationCoastal protection (especially relevant for Gulf of Mexico)PROJECT TEAM Rob Brumbaugh (GMT - FL Keys Office) Mark Spalding (GMT - Cambridge Office, UK) Philine zu Ermgassen (Cambridge, UK) Boze Hancock (GMT - URI Bay Campus) Mike Beck (GMT - UC Santa Cruz) Zach Ferdaa, Ben Gilmer (TNC Seattle)

With additional support from: External Science Advisory Team TNC field program staff Various conservation partners

Adapted from: R. Dame, 1996. Ecology of Marine Bivalves: An Ecosystem ApproachEcosystem service: Water Filtration1 101,00010,0001 1001,00010,000Residence Time (days)Clearance Time (days)Shellfish RegulateWater QualityLimited Water Quality Benefits 10 100Clearance requiredfor regulation

Ecosystem service: fish productionPeterson et al. 2003 reviewed quantitative studies of nekton abundance.

Grabowski and Peterson (2007) extended this to include economic valuation.

Might we use this to derive fish enhancement goals?

Ecosystem service: denitrificationKellogg et al. 2009. Adapted from: Newell RIE, Fisher TR, Holyoke RR, Cornwell JC (2005) Influence of eastern oysters on N and P regeneration in Chesapeake Bay, USA. In: Dame R, Olenin S (eds) The Comparative Roles of Suspension Feeders in Ecosystems.

Ecosystem service: shoreline protectionPhoto: Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Anticipated OutcomesAmplification of global reef assessment

Quantitative baseline for measuring future changes

New, larger context for restoration (i.e., new management objectives beyond shellfish harvest)

New constituents for oyster reefs (i.e., water quality managers, wetland managers)

Future directions for TNCExplore markets for ecosystem services (e.g., nitrogen trading)Addressing key research questions through restoration (when & where are shorelines best protected by an oyster reef vs. traditional engineered structure)Assist partners with development and implementation of larger scale restoration projectsExpand collaborations internationally for conservation and restoration of bivalve reefs

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased and not impaired in value.- Theodore Roosevelt

Dr. Boze HancockTNC Global Marine Teambhancock@tnc.org305-745-8402 (ext. 109)

Report released at IMCC 2009

BioScienceJan 2011

*TNC and large group of collaborators*****Our mission is holistic global means global*Global means globalActivities shoe horned into 4 main themes- lots of overlap and interaction*Scenes from TNC restoration projects around the US (clockwise: Kanehoe Bay, HI; Cobb Bay, Virginia Coast Reserve; Sherman Marsh, Maine; Great South Bay, NY.*Currently 109 awards in 20 of the 23 coastal US states + PR tremendous geographic reachSignificant focus on shellfish projects (red triangles)Our focus on shellfish is because of the services they provide

***EARLY CHALLENGES:1. Shellfish management has historically been focused on harvest (provisioning services)2. Little recognition of the REGULATING and SUPPORTIVE services (primarily)3. The political and regulatory framework for restoring shellfish reefs can be challenging because we dont typically view it as HABITAT- shellfish in polluted waters can be viewed as attractive nuisance in some places- permitting can be challenging since the management priority is on extraction- permanence of habitat protection can be a challenge (political will to keep areas closed)

TNCs projects have been designed to address these challenges by:MONITORING projects for ecosystem services OTHER than harvest e.g., documenting the use of reefs by FISH Creating a NETWORK of practitioners, managers and scientists and increasing the flow of information across projects (CLAMOR)SYNTHESIZING information Practitioners Guide to Restoration**One impetus for this study. We can decry all the problems- are think about how we can help inspire change. A Coral Reefs at Risk assessment in the 1990s was a powerful catalyst for research and conservation action of this important marine ecosystem. This assessment revealed locations where corals were in good condition and were at the least risk enabling conservation to be prioritized in those areas.*The global assessment was conducted by a team of experts from 5 continents, with input from the shellfish restoration and management community (surveys and workshops).

The data revealed 85% loss of oyster reefs globally disappointing to say the least!

There are many proactive solutions that can be useful for reversing the course, however.

Look for more insights in a Beck et al. 2011 paper to be published in BioScience (February 2011).*The Assessment seeks to quantify changes in abundance (either overall biomass or spatial extent of reefs) as well as the primary drivers of change. SC as much as 3 Million bushels/year; Olympias maybe 100,000 bushels or 200 Million oysters (Steele in Lindsay and Simons); VA 7 Million Bushels*Are we managing that way*Include bivalve reefs as a wetland type in the Ramsar strategic framework for site selection. An under-represented wetland type.Theres is a finite area available for shellfish reefs and beds in the U.S. and nearly half are currently outside the boundaries of Approved (safe for consumption) areas. As more of the Unclassified areas are evaluated (for harvest potential), we find many of these are Harvest Limited areas (not safe for consumption purposes). SO...we cannot ignore these areas as potential places for shellfish restoration it is simply too much of the total area to leave unrestored (or worse, to encourage shellfish to be removed from unapproved areas!!)*Nearly half of the coastal waters of the US are restricted for shellfish harvest*TNC is leading 8 ARRA projects funded by NOAA. This slide shows the staging area for a project in Alabama where different shoreline-protection/oyster reef creation techniques are being tested.*Large-scale application of shell bags is one approach being evaluated adjacent to Coffee Island (outside Bayou LaBatre) and adjacent to Alabama Port entrance (north of Dauphin Island).*ReefBLK shell gabions are also being tested as wave attenuation devices and oyster aggregation devices along the shoresline.*Mini Reefballs are the third kind of treatment being tested in the Alabama ARRA project.*The AL ARRA project has inspired various organizations (NGOs as well as public mgmt agencies) to scale up shoreline protection efforts with an oyster restoration component.

100-1000 is about using 100 miles or reef-like shoreline protection that will also protect or enhance 1000 acres of seagrass and salt marsh habitats throughout Alabamas coastal waters.**With restoration successes around the U.S., the oyster reef restoration community is gaining momentum quickly and we need to be prepared to answer the question from managers and funders: How much is enough?In recent decades, there are many places with aspirational goals for oyster reefs, knowing that more is better given the depleted status of reefs in many places. These goals usually lack clarity around the desired ecological outcomes...*NFWF and NOAA recently provided funding to TNC to evaluate the potential for using ecosystem services as a framework for setting goals for oyster reef restoration.**Consider the residence times of a few estuaries found in the U.S. they range from about 10 to 100 days (bracketed within the vertical red lines).

Managing (or restoring) shellfish populations in these estuaries for biomass sufficient to fulfill their historic role of regulating estuarine productivity would be a step toward ecosystem-based management. Along with appropriate controls on land-derived nutrients (farms, lawns, car exhaust, waste water discharge), this would provide a buffer against eutrophication that robs oxygen from waters, contributes to harmful algal blooms and causes stresses or declines in other estuarine organisms.

The minimum clearance times necessary to enable an estuary to be regulated are indicated by the dashed arrowsand knowing this enables us to calculate minimum biomass of shellfish needed to regulate productivity in the estuary.Fish production (crabs, finfish, etc) is another ecosystem services that might actually be an effective way to set restoration targets.**Lisa Kellogg & collaborators from Horn Point Laboratory, University of Maryland, are among those working to better quantify nitrogen removal within reefs via denitrification a promising avenue for scaling restoration (and, potentially, aquaculture production?) given the need to reduce eutrophication in so many estuaries around the globe.

*Shoreline protection is of significant interest in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast, where sea level rise and subsidence threatens not only ecological communities, but human-built infrastructure and communities as well.The goal-setting project will build on the U.S. information in the Global Shellfish Reefs at Risk Assessment.

It also provides a way to begin measuring progress toward a suite of ecological objectives.

New context (ecosystem services) can bring new constituents to the table more voices for restoration funding and science.*Next steps for TNC include valuation of ecosystem services and exploration of market-driven opportunities for funding restoration (e.g., N trading?)

We will continue to use our restoration work to help answer key science questions (e.g., when and where is shoreline protection with oyster reefs appropriate, cost-effective, etc.)

We will continue working with partners to develop larger-scale restoration visions and projects

The work we have been doing in the U.S. is likely to be quite important for informing restoration and improved management elsewhere in the world so we are seeking to develop and support new collaborations that connect projects across borders.***