1. Expansion of Oyster Pilot Study
within Jamaica Bay
John McLaughlin
October 15, 2014
Jamaica Bay Task Force

2. 2
Jamaica Bay Watershed Protection Plan
• Original Watershed Protection
Plan identified 127 Strategies
intended to improve water
quality, ecology and public
access to the bay
• 2014 Update released on
October 1st
• http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/p
df/jamaica_bay/jbwpp_update
_10012014.pdf

3. Original and Expanded Oyster Pilot Locations
3
Oysters
Eelgrass
Oyster Project Scale-up
under DOI Grant

4. 4
Project Goals
GOALS:
• Demonstrate effectiveness of water quality and ecological benefits from
oyster habitats
• Demonstrate effectiveness of safeguards to avoid “attractive nuisance”
• Develop information to restore a significant habitat type that once thrived in
Jamaica Bay
o Measure growth
o Survival
o Reproduction and Recruitment
Under real environmental conditions (e.g., predators, environmental
stressors)

5. 5
Dubos Point
Dubos Point - Reef Bed
 10’ X 15” near-shore
 Spat on Shell (SOS) over surf
clam shell
 2 feet off bottom at 4 foot MLW

6. 6
Gerritsen Creek
Gerritsen Creek - Reef Balls
 12 reef balls placed together
 2.5 ft width x 1.75 ft height
 Spatted in separate tank (CCE)
 Near shore, on bottom at 5 foot MLW

7. 7
Pilot Conclusions
 Generally adequate conditions for life
functions
 Extensive predation observed (drills &
crabs)
 Percent survival > on reef balls vs. reef
bed
 Low incidence of Disease
 Growth rates comparable to east coast
estuaries
 Gonadal development found
 Reproduction not directly observed
 No recruitment observed

8. 8
Oyster Growth
DP & GC 2012 avr & max shell height

9. Improved Habitat
Baseline 6 months
Post Construction
12 months
Post Construction
9 Frequently Observed Macrobenthic Species

10. 10
Lessons Learned
 Scale
 Although provided, difficult
to actually measure water
quality improvements -
made more difficult due to
small scale
 No buffering capacity from
disturbances
 Reef Balls very successful
 Reef Bed not stable
 Requires lower energy,
greater depth and/or
structural protection

11. 11
Oyster Pilot Expansion
• Building on the research
already done, the expansion
will create a functional oyster
spat “donor” bed and four
smaller oyster “receiving beds”
to ultimately determine
whether or not oyster
restoration can be self-sustaining
within Jamaica Bay.
• Based on oyster larval
modeling results (Fitzpatrick,
2012), modeling suggests
that Head of Bay provides a
greater potential degree of
larva retention.
• A larger oyster bed would also
provide a greater degree of
resilience to disease and
predation.
Received $1M in funding from the
Department of Interior Hurricane
Sandy Coastal Resiliency Grant
Program and $375K from DEP

12. 12
Location of Larva Release Points
Slide credit: HDR

13. 13
Recruitment Results
Spat Release Locations near
Head of Bay
Slide credit: HDR

14. 14

15. Partners
15
Design/Installation
• New York Harbor School
• Cornell University Cooperative Extension
• Hudson River Foundation
Permitting
• NYSDEC
• USACE

16. 16
Thank You
John
Mclaughlin
NYCDEP
718-595-4458
jmclaughlin@dep.nyc.gov
www.nyc.gov.dep