The American Littoral Society will try to get oysters to return to Barnegat Bay using new innovations that will kick-off this week. 

Barnegat Bay, Photo Credit American Littoral Society Facebook Page
Barnegat Bay, Photo Credit American Littoral Society Facebook Page
loading...

Timothy P. Dillingham, the Society's Executive Director, said they'll try to expand a reef established at Good Luck Point in Berkeley Township by experimenting with spiral-shaped, open mouth, whelk shell.

"Part of what we're testing is whether or not the oysters will set on the whelk shell and be safe from predators in the bay," said Dillingham. The idea is to grow the oyster reef to what it was 100 years ago.

"Oysters were a critical part of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem, and historically they provided a very strong part of the local economy, they were world-renowned for their quality, and they were an important part of the ecology of the bay," he said. Dillingham added, "Unfortunately, historically, we've lost the oysters from the bay due to pollution, over harvesting, mismanaging."

The Society's program is trying to put that missing piece of the bay's ecology back into the water with the experiment at Good Luck Point.

The innovative part of the experiment is using whelk shell, instead of oyster shell or clam shell. They're different animals from the same family, according to Dillingham.

"The experiment here is because the oysters are sort of flat and don't have a lot of relief to them. They're very different in the way that the shells are shaped from the whelk shell," said Dillingham.

"The Bay bottom here is firm but the oysters need 'real-estate.'  Research last year showed that salinity conditions could be ideal at Good Luck Point and if we do get a set, we hope the whelk will deter predation by cow-nosed rays who like to feed on oysters," said Captain Alek Modjeski, Habitat Restoration Director of the American Littoral Society.

The overall program is to try to rebuild reefs throughout the bay over a long time period.

"We are trying to put back those missing pieces as effectively as we can, so if this experiment works, we'll replicate it in other places throughout the bay, working with local water men, the towns, the Barnegat Bay Partnership and others have been very supportive of this," said Dillingham.

The Society has also purchased a spat tank to be placed on the Ocean Gate pier where spat on shell will be grown and then added to the reef. "It is inspiring to have both towns so involved in the restoration of Good Luck Point and their support in allowing us to adaptively identify next steps to help restore the health and resiliency of the Bay" Capt. Modjeski said.

Dilllingham added cooperation and support, everybody having an investment in the stewardship and recovery and restoration of the bay, is what it will take to bring back it back.

Other partners include Monmouth University's Urban Coast Institute, who executed baseline mapping of the site using remote operating underwater vehicle (ROV) and side scanning techniques, and ReClam the Bay who provided support for biological sampling and will also assist with spat tank bay-side assembly at Ocean Gate.

The Good Luck Point Marina (Roy Sr., Gail, and family) have also been instrumental in the project and extremely helpful with access.

More From 92.7 WOBM