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The WFSU Ecology Blog

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Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef

Recycling Oyster Shells for Choctawhatchee Bay

by Rob Diaz de Villegas May 29, 2013
by Rob Diaz de Villegas May 29, 2013 0 comment

Rob Diaz de Villegas WFSU-TV
Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance staff from L to R: Brandy Foley, Jeff Murphy, and Rachel Gwin listen as Allison McDowell explains how the reef is to be laid out.  She had previously laid the section visible under the water.

CBA staff from L to R: Brandy Foley, Jeff Murphy, and Rachel Gwin listen as Allison McDowell explains how the reef is to be laid out. She had previously laid the section visible under the water.

IGOR chip- sedimentation 150

I’ve been wanting to do a video on Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance‘s Oyster Recycling program for some time.  I decided to do it now because we’ve been covering restoration efforts in Apalachicola Bay, and while the two efforts appear to have similar goals, they’re both using different methods and aiming at different goals.  In Apalachicola, they’re trying to restore their fishery.  They want oyster spat to settle on their shells and grow into market sized (3 inches or more) adults.  In Choctawhatchee, they’re rebuilding their coastline.  It’s an ecosystem service we have mentioned in the past but have struggled to show, how oyster reefs (and salt marshes) prevent erosion.  You can see in the video above how the coastline is retreating and exposing tree roots where these natural barriers have been removed.  And you can see how the sand just accumulates where they’ve replaced shell.  It’s one of the many beautiful things an oyster reef does.

With 85% of the world’s oyster reefs having already been lost, and with more being threatened, restoration is critical.  Many of those efforts center around what’s left in your basket when you leave the raw bar.  Every part of the oyster is valuable.  The animal itself cleans the water and provides income for oyster harvesters.  But it’s also a builder, and an oyster reef provides shelter for various fish, crab, and snail species, many of which we eat.    The shells that make the reef are the best place for a larval oyster to land.  So those dozen or two shells you walk away from have their value as well.  Thankfully, people like the Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance staff and volunteers are doing the hard work of collecting them and putting them back to work for the reef.

This is a refrigerator at Busters in Santa Rosa Beach.  Donnie Sellers shucked 75 dozen oysters the day we were there, and that was before tourist season.  All of the restaurant's shells end up in blue recycle bins.

This is a refrigerator at Busters in Santa Rosa Beach. Standing behind the bar, Donnie Sellers shucked 75 dozen oysters the day we were there, and that was before tourist season. All of the restaurant’s shells end up in blue recycle bins.

Music in the Piece by Red Lion.

In the Grass, On the Reef is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now in its tenth year, the Ecology Blog recently wrapped its most ambitious endeavor, the EcoCitizen Project. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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Researchers and Oystermen Fighting for Apalachicola Bay
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Oyster Research Needs Your Help In Apalachicola Bay

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iNaturalist became a part of the WFSU Ecology Blog during the EcoCitizen Project in 2019.  Since then, we’ve used it to help identify the many plants and animals we see on our shoots.  And on the Backyard Blog, we show how it can be used to identify weeds and garden insects, to help figure out what’s beneficial or a possible pest.  Below is the iNaturalist profile belonging to WFSU Ecology producer Rob Diaz de Villegas.

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