Jamaica Bay Wildlife refuge west pond proposal for protecting the south shore...
Jbtf oyster presentation
1. Expansion of Oyster Pilot Study
within Jamaica Bay
John McLaughlin
October 15, 2014
Jamaica Bay Task Force
2. 2
Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan
• Original Watershed Protection
Plan identified 127 Strategies
intended to improve water
quality, ecology and public
access to the bay
• 2014 Update released on
October 1st
• http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/p
df/jamaica_bay/jbwpp_update
_10012014.pdf
3. Original and Expanded Oyster Pilot Locations
3
Oysters
Eelgrass
Oyster Project Scale-up
under DOI Grant
4. 4
Project Goals
GOALS:
• Demonstrate effectiveness of water quality and ecological benefits from
oyster habitats
• Demonstrate effectiveness of safeguards to avoid “attractive nuisance”
• Develop information to restore a significant habitat type that once thrived in
Jamaica Bay
o Measure growth
o Survival
o Reproduction and Recruitment
Under real environmental conditions (e.g., predators, environmental
stressors)
5. 5
Dubos Point
Dubos Point - Reef Bed
10’ X 15” near-shore
Spat on Shell (SOS) over surf
clam shell
2 feet off bottom at 4 foot MLW
6. 6
Gerritsen Creek
Gerritsen Creek - Reef Balls
12 reef balls placed together
2.5 ft width x 1.75 ft height
Spatted in separate tank (CCE)
Near shore, on bottom at 5 foot MLW
7. 7
Pilot Conclusions
Generally adequate conditions for life
functions
Extensive predation observed (drills &
crabs)
Percent survival > on reef balls vs. reef
bed
Low incidence of Disease
Growth rates comparable to east coast
estuaries
Gonadal development found
Reproduction not directly observed
No recruitment observed
9. Improved Habitat
Baseline 6 months
Post Construction
12 months
Post Construction
9 Frequently Observed Macrobenthic Species
10. 10
Lessons Learned
Scale
Although provided, difficult
to actually measure water
quality improvements -
made more difficult due to
small scale
No buffering capacity from
disturbances
Reef Balls very successful
Reef Bed not stable
Requires lower energy,
greater depth and/or
structural protection
11. 11
Oyster Pilot Expansion
• Building on the research
already done, the expansion
will create a functional oyster
spat “donor” bed and four
smaller oyster “receiving beds”
to ultimately determine
whether or not oyster
restoration can be self-sustaining
within Jamaica Bay.
• Based on oyster larval
modeling results (Fitzpatrick,
2012), modeling suggests
that Head of Bay provides a
greater potential degree of
larva retention.
• A larger oyster bed would also
provide a greater degree of
resilience to disease and
predation.
Received $1M in funding from the
Department of Interior Hurricane
Sandy Coastal Resiliency Grant
Program and $375K from DEP
15. Partners
15
Design/Installation
• New York Harbor School
• Cornell University Cooperative Extension
• Hudson River Foundation
Permitting
• NYSDEC
• USACE
16. 16
Thank You
John
Mclaughlin
NYCDEP
718-595-4458
jmclaughlin@dep.nyc.gov
www.nyc.gov.dep
Editor's Notes
Sites subject to different environmental conditions, salinities, temperature
Two sites: Different salinities & treatments
Both easy access for bi-weekly monitoring