1. Fisheries Shellfish Restoration Project Case Studies - One Urban
- One Open Water
- Many Stakeholders

2. Shellfish Restoration Project Case Studies –
Presentation
11th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration
Shellfish Restoration Project Case Studies –
One Urban, One Open Water, Many Stakeholders
Paul L. Hundley, Jr.
Pensacola, Florida
Laura A. Csoboth
Pearl River, New York
Gerald J. Hauske
Corpus Christi, Texas
Joel T. Darnell
Bellevue, Washington

3. HDR Introduction Engineering Science Architecture Planning Consulting
SUSTAINABLE – Listen first, Solve second.
HDR Introduction
Engineering
Science
Architecture
Planning
Consulting

4. HDR Introduction Key Fisheries Support Centers
SUSTAINABLE – Listen first, Solve second.
HDR Introduction
Anchorage, Alaska
Key Fisheries Support Centers
Springfield, Illinois
Gig Harbor, Washington
Pearl River, New York
Sacramento, California
Pensacola, Florida
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Corpus Christi, Texas

5. Fisheries Client Services
SUSTAINABLE – Listen first, Solve second.
Fisheries Client Services
Comprehensive planning and project implementation:

6. CASE STUDY LAVACA BAY OYSTER REEF CREATION PROJECT, TEXAS Keller Bay
REEF LOCATION
Lavaca Bay
LAVACA BAY OYSTER REEF CREATION PROJECT, TEXAS
Matagorda Bay

7. KEY STAKEHOLDERS – LAVACA BAY
Alcoa
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas General Land Office
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

8. TECHNICAL FIELD WORK BENTHIC PROBING BATHYMETRY EXISTING OYSTERS
GEOTECHNICAL
BENTHIC PROBING
EXISTING OYSTERS

9. 3-D VIEW OF EXISTING BAY BOTTOM
RENDERING OF BAY BOTTOM FROM INITIAL HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY

10. FINAL PRODUCT
RENDERING OF BAY BOTTOM WITH NEW OYSTER REEF FROM FINAL HYROGRAPHIC SURVEY

11. DESIGN LAYOUT

12. ENGINEERING
10.9 ACRES
3-INCH (MAX)
LIMESTONE

13. CONSTRUCTION PROCESS Staging Light load barges
Transport to project site
Place stone
Continuous survey
Survey monument
LUHR BROS.

14. CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
STAGING AREA
LIGHT LOAD BARGES

15. CONSTRUCTION PROCESS
TRANSPORTING
CONSTRUCTION SITE

16. STONE PLACEMENT

17. MONITORING
HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY
SURVEY CONTROL

18. Case Study - An Urban Estuary The Hudson-Raritan Estuary
Habitat restoration in urban estuaries has recently been gaining momentum despite the challenges and constraints often found in densely population areas.
In the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, home to NYC, large and small scale restoration has been possible due to changing attitudes about the value of habitat and green spaces and through the formation of partnerships between agencies and organizations.
In this case-study, I’ll touch upon some history of the oyster and its decline in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, and talk about several multi-stakeholder efforts HDR has played a role in, which are working to return oysters and oyster reefs to the estuary.

19. The Hudson-Raritan Estuary
One of the largest estuaries on the East Coast
Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs were a dominant habitat type in the HRE
Degradation factors
Direct habitat loss (harvesting)
Degraded water quality
Shoreline hardening
Hydrodynamic modifications
Loss of natural freshwater inputs
Currently, no natural, living oyster beds in the HRE
Historically, eastern oyster reefs were a dominant habitat type in the HRE. Colonial accounts tell of vastness of these reefs, later referred to as the GREAT BEDS, sometimes spanning a mile in diameter. Map of oyster reefs was developed just before their massive decline.
Much of the oyster decline was the result of overharvesting, but other culprits included poor water quality, increased sedimentation, and disease that decimated the population in the early 20th century.
Additional degradation factors exacerbated the habitat loss and are persistent today, including…
Shoreline hardening, which has eliminated much of the shallow, littoral habitat in the harbor on which intertidal reefs occurred.
Altered hydrodynamics from landfill and dredging may have changed larval transport patterns.
Many of the natural freshwater and tidal creeks entering the estuary have been cut off from their freshwater supply, resulting in an overall increase in salinity concentrations, which may have negative effects on larval oysters.
Currently, there are no natural, living oyster beds in the HRE, although there are scattered oysters living in many areas of the harbor. The loss of oysters dramatically changed the estuary from one dominated with huge expanses of benthic structure to an estuary dominated by silty, soft-bottoms. Although some of these habitats have been irreplaceably altered, there have been major improvements in water quality in the last few decades and efforts to replace lost habitats. Moreover, there have been huge strides in the social and political will to initiate large-scale restoration projects in the estuary.
Metropolitan Sewerage Commission Report, c.1911

20. Oyster Reef Restoration
Ecological benefits
Spatially complex benthic structure
Refuge, feeding, nursery grounds
The ‘oyster movement’
Gardening/seeding programs, art, reef construction
Mara G. Haseltine, 2007
There are many ecological benefits to restoring oysters...most of which center around the reefs they create. The reefs provide spatially complex hard substrate to the estuary, which offers feeding, refuge, and nursery grounds to many transient and resident species (invertebrate and vertebrate).
Oysters and oyster reef restoration, like in other estuaries, can develop a strong following. In the HRE, there has been somewhat of an ‘oyster movement’, which have brought oysters into the lime light. This has spurred the creation of other programs and funding opportunities, including oyster gardening and seeding programs and the creation of oyster reefs in the harbor.
NY/NJ Baykeeper, 2006

21. Bronx River Pilot Oyster Reef Restoration
Pilot project initiated by NYC Dept. of Parks
Funded by Congressman José E. Serrano’s WCS-NOAA Lower Bronx River Partnership
Soundview Park,
Lower Bronx River
An example of a successful pilot oyster reef project is: the Bronx River Pilot Oyster Reef Restoration (ALSO A POSTER PRESENTATION BY ALISON MASS OF PARKS)
Located in the Lower Bronx River
Tributary of East River
Highly urbanized
Soundview Park, the Bronx
Soft-bottom, silty shoal
Created two low-profile,
clam-shell reefs (24 m2)

22. Bronx River Pilot Oyster Reef Restoration
3-year study, including post-restoration monitoring
Collaborated with local community groups and several project partners
The project is considered a success because natural oyster spat was identified on the reefs and the project site was used by many vertebrate and invertebrate species throughout the seasons.
2006 Reef
2007 Reef
Installed July 2006
Installed July 2007

23. Bronx River Pilot Oyster Reef Restoration
3-year study, including post-restoration monitoring
Collaborated with local community groups and several project partners
The project is considered a success because natural oyster spat was identified on the reefs and the project site was used by many vertebrate and invertebrate species throughout the seasons.
- The Bronx River Alliance
- Parks Green Apple Corps
Lehman College
Rocking the Boat
NOAA
- Sustainable South Bronx
Youth Ministries for Peace
and Justice

24. Bronx River Pilot Oyster Reef Restoration
Spat is not the only way to determine success of an oyster reef. Monitoring of fish, benthos, and epibenthos can also provide valuable information on how the reef is functioning in the estuary and interacting with other trophic levels.

25. HRE Comprehensive Restoration Plan
Collaborative effort, coordinated by several main players
Intended to be master plan for HRE ecosystem restoration
11 Target Ecosystem Characteristics (TEC)
Oysters and Oyster Reefs TEC
These individual efforts to restore oysters in the HRE are occurring in tandem with the development of a unified restoration strategy for the estuary.
A Comprehensive Restoration Plan is being developed for the HRE, and has been a collaborative effort by many Federal, state, and city agencies, as well as numerous NGOs and private stakeholders.
The CRP is intended to be the mater plan for ecosystem restoration in the HRE, which will build upon previous efforts to ensure that each restoration project in the HRE works toward the common goals of the HRE stakeholders.
To develop measurable objectives, a team of estuarine scientists identified a set of 11 characteristics, many of which
are critical to the estuary’s ecological viability. Each Target Ecosystem Characteristic (TEC) is an important ecosystem
property or feature that is of societal and/or biological value. The 11 TECs are a mosaic of habitat types, habitat
complexes, contamination issues, and societal values that can be quantified and tracked for short-term and long-term
success.
One of these TECs is oysters and oyster reefs.
On a broader level, the CRP is an exciting step forward for oyster restoration practitioners, as it provides backing for current programs and will coordinate and build consensus among stakeholders interested in participating in future restoration in the HRE.

26. Next Steps for the HRE Public release of the CRP in 2009
Potential regulatory/ permitting revisions
Overcome issue of
attractive nuisance
Continued involvement by local stakeholders
The NYSDEC has requested that restoration practitioners and project sponsors consider the following when preparing an
oyster restoration proposal in New York waters:
1. Pilot scale projects provide the benefit of community involvement
2. Proposals for large-scale projects need to discuss habitat exchange issues
3. Risk management strategies should be discussed
4. Shells should be from New York. Out-of-State shells may require treatment prior to use in New York waters.
5. Spat should only be from New York and northern states because of disease concerns.
6. Protection of Waters and Coastal Zone Consistency permits will be required for oyster restoration projects
7. Suggest coordination with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Interstate Shellfish Sanitation
Conference.
Although the NJDEP has not provided a set of guidelines to be followed when planning oyster restoration projects in
New Jersey waters, they do not recommend oyster restoration projects in waters that are closed to shellfishing.
Oysters can be considered an “attractive nuisance” for illegal harvest, and it may be prudent to consider restoring shellfish species other
than oysters that provide similar ecosystem services, such as hard clams, softshell clams, blue mussels and ribbed
mussels. Although the ecological benefits of these species are not as substantial as those of oyster reefs, the risks
associated with restoration may make these projects more attractive.
Local stakeholders are essential to the success of the feasibility phase for any restoration project or program.

27. Fisheries QUESTIONS? Thank you!
Paul L. Hundley, Jr., P.E., HDR Engineering, Inc.
tel: