1. N
W E
S
In addition to their role as a food source
for humans and many marine species,
oysters provide many ecosystem services
including water filtration, protection against
shoreline erosion and habitat for
economically important fishes and
invertebrates. Unfortunately, oyster reefs
around the world have drastically declined.
In the Indian River Lagoon, this decline is
primarily due to boat wakes from
recreational boating. The wakes crash
against the oyster reefs causing the
sediment holding the oyster clusters in
place to erode. Next, loose oysters pile on
top of each other which lands them above
the high water limit and results in their
death. Restoration is necessary to
reestablish the damaged oyster reefs.
Restoration methods begin by leveling the
dead reefs to the elevation of natural reefs
nearby. Oyster mats are then placed in the
damaged areas to provide substrate for
oyster larvae to settle. Recruitment data is
collected to monitor the progress and
measure the overall
success of the newly restored
oyster reefs.
Oyster Reef
Restoration