Dr Victoria Cole1, Dr David Harasti1, Ms Kylie Russell1, Dr Francisco Martinez-Baena2, Dr Simon Reeves3
1NSW Department of Primary Industries Fisheries, Taylors Beach, Australia, 2The Nature Conservancy, Sydney, Australia, 3The Nature Conservancy, Melbourne, Australia
Globally, oyster reefs have been lost due to unsustainable harvesting, disease, and pollution. With the cessation of many of these stressors, attempts are being made to restore the structure and function of these lost habitats. Oyster reef restoration projects are expanding in New South Wales, with the first large scale Sydney rock oyster reef restoration project in Port Stephens in 2020/2021, intertidal Sydney rock and subtidal Angasi oyster reefs at Wagonga Inlet completed in June 2022, and additional reefs are planned for Botany Bay in 2023. We have developed a monitoring program that requires seasonal sampling of shellfish, fish, and invertebrates from carefully selected replicated reference sites (remnant oyster reefs), control sites (bare sediment), and the restoration site(s). Experiments for determining the success of restoration in terms of the ecological functioning of oyster reefs were also done. After 2 years, in Port Stephens, the ecological assemblages at the restoration sites are beginning to converge with natural reefs. Furthermore, they are currently supporting 55 million oyster recruits, up to 34 species of fishes, 8 million invertebrates, and the oyster reefs at the restoration sites are filtering >7.5 million L/h. Current pre-restoration sampling at Wagonga and Botany are providing essential baseline data for understanding natural change, with new results for Wagonga to be presented. In addition to measuring the progress of restoration, these large-scale restoration works are also providing manipulative experiments to understand ecological questions and investigate new methods.
Presentation Slides – Victoria Cole
