Restoring Shellfish to Improve Our Coasts, Support Green Jobs, and Boost the Economy ICSR 2010 Conference Summer Morlock – NOAA Restoration Center

2 NOAA Restoration Center Shellfish Projects NOAA Community-based Restoration Program with many partners (TNC, FAF, NFWF, GMF, etc.) >$10 million in federal funding >215 projects

3 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Coastal resources = America’s economic engines (fishing, recreation, tourism, infrastructure protection…) Commercial and recreational fishing – employs 2M people and contributes $185B to the nation’s economy $167M for coastal restoration and green jobs More than $3B in requests from over 800 applications Funded 50 shovel ready projects Habitats: wetlands, rivers, coral reefs, and shellfish

4 ARRA funding for shellfish: ~$18.5 million Restoring: ~100 ac oyster; 35 ac marsh;100 ac seagrass (100K scallops) Protecting: >330 marsh and seagrass acres Supporting: >400,000 labor hour (>200 FTEs) Grantees: TNC (3), Martin County FL, NCCF, City of Charleston

5 Why Shellfish Restoration Provides nursery and rearing habitat for important commercial and recreational fish Over 170 species of fish have been documented at oyster reefs in Northern GOM (Kilgen and Dugas 1989) ARRA: sea trout, drum, flounder, snapper, grouper, crab, sheepshead, striped bass, shrimp, sea bass, croaker, spot, bluefish, menhaden, shark, perch, etc. Provides additional spat source for shellfish harvest areas Enhances water quality and nutrient cycling Acts as “living shorelines” or “green infrastructure” by protecting coastlines from waves and storm surge

6 Why Shellfish Restoration Employs a wide variety of jobs: barge and tug crews, trucker drivers and loaders, heavy equipment operators, fishermen, divers, mechanics, quarry miners, welders, engineers, biologists, etc. Areas of high unemployment Fishing communities hit by hurricanes Katrina, Ivan, and Rita

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9 Learning from the Past and Going to Scale Significantly increases NOAA RC’s investment in shellfish projects (~$10M plus $18.5M) VA – 10 fold increase in restoration targets in 2010 NC – Achieving six years of restoration in 18 months AL and LA – Largest living shoreline projects (AL – from 25-75m to m).

10 Learning from the Present and Monitoring Shellfish metrics (density, growth, etc.) Presence and use by target species Quantification of stabilization and enhancement of adjacent habitats and shoreline Socio-economics Tracking hours worked, and modeling economic impact through IMPLAN Additional studies: recreational angling use; perceptions of local economic and ecologic benefits of the recovery funding

11 Getting the Word Out

12 Thanks to all of our grantees and their partners for restoring our coasts and coastal communities! City of Charleston