U.S. West Coast Native Oyster Restoration

(Ostreola conchaphila): 2006 Workshop Summary

Summer Morlock, Polly Hicks, Natalie Cosentino-ManningNOAA Restoration Center

Images: Couch and Hassler, 1989

NOAA Restoration CenterCommunity-based

Restoration Program

Fosters community support through hands-on citizen involvement in fishery habitat restoration projects

Creates partnerships with local constituencies

Leverages technical expertise and funds

Instills stewardship and conservation values

Over 1450 projects funded since 1996

“Celebrating 10 years of coastal restoration”

Restoration gaining popularity with many organizations

NOAA RC alone - over $1,000,000 directly and through partnerships (TNC, RAE, Ocean Trust, Fish America, . .) with significant leverage

Projects demonstrated that substrate enhancement and reseeding efforts can be successful

Need to improve science and guidance for implementation and document success

West Coast Native Oyster Restoration

September 6-8, 2006 Marin Rod and Gun Club San Rafael, CA

First West Coast-wide Workshop

Purpose: 1) To share knowledge regarding native oyster restoration efforts 2) To bring together the best available science and identify research needs 3) To develop guidelines and methods for future oyster restoration efforts

• Over 70 participants• Over 30 speakers

• academia • agencies• industry• NGOs

Sponsors and Organizers

• Olympia Oyster Distribution

• Biology, Genetics, and Dispersal

• Limitations to Restoration and Recovery

• Ecological Interactions – Ecosystem Services

• Restoration: Past, Present and Future

• Permitting

• The Community’s Role in Restoration

• Short-term and Long-term Goals and Priorities

Workshop Topics of Focus

Dispersal and Genetics

Larval dispersal• Rapid techniques for larvae identification and quantification - DNA

extraction through qPCR (Vadopalas et al.)• Larval shell chemistry as “flight recorder” of environmental

conditions to track larval movements and identify source populations (Zacherl et al.)

Need to better understand reproductive cycles, larval conditions, larval transport

Genetics• Microsatellite DNA testing to distinguish populations (Stick et al.,

Camara) Little to no genetic information Unclear when populations are locally adapted versus genetically

unhealthy Maintain or restore genetic diversity vs. improve capacity to respond

to future challenges (e.g., habitat degradation, invasives, disease)

Ecosystem Services• Limited information available in comparison to eastern oyster

• No positive benefit for overall diversity of community found, but other services still unknown (Kimbro; Tomales Bay)

• Olympia oysters appear to create habitat, but form beds as opposed to reefs

Image credit: D. Kimbro

Current and Future Restoration

Washington• Puget Sound

• Willapa Bay

Oregon • Netarts Bay

• Yaquina Bay

• Coos Bay

California• San Francisco Bay

• Tomales Bay

• Humboldt Bay

• Southern California

Limitations to Restoration

Many limiting factors are site specific, seasonal, and/or poorly understood including:

• Substrate availabilityWillapa Bay (Trimble)

- Historic removal of dense subtidal shell

- Newly introduced shell in intertidal recruitment sink

SF Bay (Abbott)• Salinity

SF Bay (Abbott)• Competition

Oysters poor space competitors (Trimble)Photo credit: A. Trimble

Limitations (con’t)Disease

• 3 diseases/disease agents (Mikrocytos-like protist (micocell), a haplosporidian, hemic neoplasia) (Friedman et al.; SF Bay)

• Disseminated neoplasia found in (portions of) Tomales Bay, Drakes Estero and San Francisco Bay (Moore)

Need information before moving shell between sites

Predators• Non-indigenous Japanese oyster drill (Ocinebrina inornata) (Buhle

and Ruesink; Puget Sound) Restoration possible where oyster or alternative prey

abundance/recruitment saturate feeding• Native and non-native whelk (Acanthina spirata and Urosalpinx

cinerea), native and not-native crabs (Cancer productus and Carcinus maenas) (Grosholz and Kimbro; Tomales Bay)

• Also, native crab whelk oysters

Management Challenges

• Permitting• Funding• Multiple agencies involved• Seed production• Coordination with other species restoration

efforts• Commercial oyster farms• Conservation leasing

Humor credit: R. Rogers

Restoration/research Recommendations• Develop explicit restoration goals and appropriate

metrics for assessment of success• View restoration as experiments

– explore basic biology and limiting factors• Genetics/hatchery supplementation

– conservative approach because lack genetic information– use local populations while minimizing changes to allele

frequency & maximizing genetic diversity– have a large number of parents that are unrelated and

restrict the contribution of individual parents• Habitat/substrate enhancement that relies on recruitment

– identify sites with high recruitment, low predation, etc.– consider using native shell or materials that will

biodegrade quickly

Recommendations (con’t)

• Ecological studies on population bottlenecks

• Monitor current populations

• Protect productive areas

• Build constituencies!!– oyster restoration makes a

good story

– reach out to broad community

– create opportunities to engage and educate Photo credit: S. Rumrill

Research Needs• Historic and current distribution and geographic

specifics (e.g., substrate, lower/upper distribution, hydrodynamics)

• Reproductive cycles, larval transport and environment

• Differential settlement within and among populations, geography, seasons, and years)– habitat studies (loose shell, old v. new, concrete)

• Recruitment source versus sink• Environmental impacts to oysters• Genetics

– locally adapted versus genetically unhealthy– past/current versus future environment– further develop genetic analysis tools

Research Needs (con’t)• Predation – need to understand community ecology• Disease and parasites• Competition• Ecosystem function/services (and

economic benefits!)– consider applying east coast models– need standard protocol for sampling

• Technique development (materials, size, shape, etc.)

Peter-Contesse and Peabody, 2006

Next Steps• Workshop proceedings• Journal of Shellfish Research (special edition)• Follow-up workshops (WA State)• Working groups • “State of the Practice” document• Develop standardized monitoring protocols and

metrics• Coast-wide spatfall monitoring• Parallel studies in each state/region• Standard protocol for use of oyster shell to

minimize exotic species intro (SF Bay area)

Thank You!

• Participants• Funders

Summer Morlock

NOAA Restoration Center

Community-based Restoration Program

Summer.Morlock@noaa.gov

301-713-0174 x121