#Algae species feed for oyster spat install#

About a third of the prisms were moved to G Street from another location, where they were submerged in the water. Last week, we deployed almost 90 reef prisms along G Street in Cedar Key.

A pilot test of the material at the Joe Rains Living Shoreline yielded impressive oyster growth. Photo: UF/IFAS, Tyler JonesĪs far as oyster growth, reef prisms and similar forms made of the same material perform quite well. Oyster spat are clearly visible on the reef prisms after just two short months. While there are many shapes and configurations possible, we are using the prism shape in the current project due to the ability to stack them in multiple rows. Once dry, the forms are removed and the prism is filled with shell and capped off. The jute mat is soaked in the concrete mixture and draped around a form. In this configuration, they function very much like shell bags with the added benefit of being plastic-free! The basic materials that make up reef prisms are jute fiber erosion control mat and Cement-All rapid setting concrete. Mark Clark in the UF/IFAS Soil and Water Sciences Dept. Reef prisms are a new material developed by Dr. Oyster Castle Blocks are also visible, behind Dr. Mark Clark places a reef prism in place along G Street in Cedar Key. Oysters and barnacles are already settling on the surfaces of the blocks! Reef Prisms Dr. While many shapes are possible with these blocks, we stacked them in a linear pyramid configuration. Castle blocks are basically cinder blocks that are molded into a shape that easily interlocks. June was a busy month for oyster enhancements in Cedar Key! We also constructed two point bar reefs using oyster castle blocks. Oyster Castle Blocks Oyster castle blocks interlock to form reef structures. However, shell bags are increasingly problematic because they introduce harmful plastics into the marine environment. Our team has even found that many types of shell are able to recruit oysters equally well. This is because they are easy and cheap to make, light enough for volunteers to carry, and generally have good success rates. Shell bags are one of the most commonly applied oyster restoration approaches. But many other projects, such as the Centipede Bay oyster reef in Hernando County, use hard plastic mesh bags with recycled or fossilized oyster shell as filler. At the Joe Rains Living Shoreline, the bags are made from a nylon fabric mesh and filled with clam shell. Shell bags can be made from a range of materials but most are made from plastic mesh or synthetic fabrics. Shell Bags Volunteers and project team members show off oyster shell bags they helped make.

#Algae species feed for oyster spat install#

We reported promising results in 2019, and the oysters are still going strong today! Overall, oyster domes made of concrete (like reef balls) are a great choice for oyster restoration in our region if you have the capacity and the means to install them.

You may remember that back in 2018 we installed reef balls at the UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station. Using this, we can track the growth of oysters and increase in complexity over time.Ī blue crab rests and feeds in the hole of a reef ball. In just two short months, the oysters have definitely moved in! Our team is monitoring the progress of these young oysters using exciting 3D modelling technology. The reef balls are sitting along the -2 ft depth contour, specifically chosen to put the maximum amount of surface in the optimal zone for oysters. These are arranged into sixteen reefs and each reef is composed of two rows of twelve reef balls. In mid-June 2020, our team worked with Reef Innovations to place 384 reef balls along Airport Rd. in Cedar Key that is accruing oysters at a rapid rate. Reef balls One of 16 reefs deployed off Airport Rd. Read on to learn more about each of these materials and the progress we are seeing on each. These are reef balls, oyster castle blocks, shell bags, and reef prisms. In Cedar Key, we are using four types materials to form the base of new oyster reefs. But oysters can also settle and thrive on a range of other materials. They need to attach to a hard substrate, and their preference is to settle on adult oysters. Young oysters, called spat, are fairly picky about where they land. Oysters cannot move around once they settle in place. For these reasons and more, oyster reefs are prominent features of several living shoreline projects we are building with the help of the community in Cedar Key. They are also great at filtering water, capturing particles, and breaking wave energy. Oysters create structure favored by many fish and invertebrates. Disappearing faster than we can restore them, oyster reefs are one of the most threatened habitats on the planet.