At the same time, we collected site and water quality data. As we arrived at each site, we quickly assembled each array in a flurry of tying, stringing, and twisting to secure the cement blocks, buoys, PVC t-trees, and oyster stringers together. Two oyster stringers (wires strung with a set number of oyster shells) were attached to each end arm of the t-tree. The arrays consisted of PVC t-trees with floats attached above and a cement block attached below. Afterall, oysters don’t follow calendar dates and shifting environmental conditions could allow for spawning to occur earlier than expected.įloating spat monitoring arrays were deployed at multiple locations across Escambia and East Bays. The best place for an oyster spat to settle is full#Though we don’t expect to see much spat after the first month, it is ideal to begin monitoring before the expected spawning season to ensure we capture the full recruitment window. The chilly, foggy morning was a good reminder that March is typically a bit early for oyster spawning in our area. We joined FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute researchers from the Apalachicola Field Laboratory in March to track down larval oysters in the (PBS). Researchers can determine juvenile oyster recruitment by deploying standardized devices and counting the number of spat that settle on the device after a certain time frame. These tiny, larval oysters need a hard surface to settle on, such as oyster shells! Once they settle onto a surface they are referred to as spat. Oysters reproduce by spawning larval oysters into the water. So how do we know where larval oysters are? However, even with all this information at our fingertips, the success of oyster restoration projects can still be limited without the presence of larval oysters in the water to colonize new reefs. This model will help us to identify locations for oyster restoration projects that give oysters the best possible chance of survival. A suite of environmental parameters, such as temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen, were used by researchers at The Nature Conservancy to develop an Oyster Habitat Suitability Model (HSM) for the Pensacola Bay System (PBS). Oysters are picky and there are several Goldilocks conditions they like to be just right – not too salty, not too fresh, not too hot, not too muddy, and the list goes on. “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t always apply to oyster reef restoration.
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