A new and improved underwater habitat is taking shape as construction of the three-dimensional oyster reef in the St. Mary’s River is well underway.
A partnership was forged between local Rotary clubs, St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) and the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association (SMRWA) with the goal of making this concept a reality and last week the contractor, Colliflower & Peterson, began building the first phase. Six mounds four feet high and twenty feet in diameter will adorn the five-acre plot in front of the college.
Professors Chris Tanner and Bob Paul, of SMCM, applied more than a decade’s worth of research when creating the comprehensive plan for the reef’s construction and will develop a model of best practices and sustainability, with the help of their students, through subsequent monitoring and evaluation of the project.
Acknowledging how oysters once thrived when they grew on natural reefs that rose up from the bottom and allowed the beneficial bivalves access to more nutrient-rich environments throughout the water column, the partners moved forward with this action to restore the suffering oyster population, thereby improving water quality in the river and positively impacting the larger ecosystem.
“This is a wonderful way to go,” said Bob Zepp, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, explaining the reconstructed reefs will provide habitat for fish and other organisms as well as oysters. The research is another benefit, he added. “there is always interest in any scientific information that can be gleaned from a project like this for use in efforts to clean up the Bay.”
Some of these vertical columns will be constructed of precisely-placed reef balls, while others will consist of concrete rubble. Ninety-one reef balls will be placed in the water, several of which were constructed courtesy of supporters’ donations and by students at the Chesapeake Charter School. Most of the reef balls were created during six days of volunteer efforts led by the Rotary Club of College Park at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s field site in Shady Side, Md.
To date, SMRWA has invested more than $70,000 in the project and sings the praises of local partners and substantial local supporters like Colliflower Peterson, Curruth & Son, Dean Lumber Company, Cullins Trucking, and perennial donor Boeing Global Corporate Citizenship- now in its fifth year of funding oyster restoration efforts in the St. Mary’s River.
Scientists agree that three-dimensional structures are the best option for sustainability, density of living oysters, and richness of habitat diversity. Many eyes throughout the region will be on the project as it moves forward, as it may become a model to replicate in the broader efforts for o
