Habitat Restoration

Creating American Oyster Banks with Remote Set
Oysters are not only an important fishery resource; they are also important parts of the ecosystem, providing habitat and filtering the water column.  Oyster banks and their habitat are not as common as in the past.  In an effort to restore oyster populations around the region we have used a technique called remote setting.  This method involves the setting of larval oysters to bags or movable containers of sea clam shell (culch) in a local hatchery.  The bags of shell culch, already seeded with oysters, can then be planted at sites identified for possible restoration or enhancement.  The technique has helped place oysters in areas where they had previously been absent, with some anecdotal claims of enhanced water clarity, an area we are looking to research further.  We are also investigating whether oyster banks can potentially be used to create a living shoreline to aid in protection of wave action and sediment erosion in some locations.

For more information on remote set oysters see our Marine Extension Bulletin.