05-15-2006, 07:23 PM
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]BIVALVE, N.J. — On behalf of the Delaware Bay Oyster Restoration Group, Dr. Eric Powell of Rutgers University’s Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory has released the monitoring results of the 2005 Oyster Shell-Planting Revitalization Project in the Delaware Bay.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The report reveals that, while overall oyster abundance has declined to its lowest levels throughout the bay since the onset of Dermo disease (circa 1989), as well as to one of the lowest levels in the 1953 to 2005 record, abundance has increased in the areas where shell planting took place. Oyster larvae require a clean, hard surface to which they can attach for future growth, but the sources of these shells have diminished over time.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The 2005 shell-planting program was designed specifically to address the issue of low recruitment by restoring six critical beds in the Delaware Bay. As a result, 280,000 bushels (approximately 150 acres or 10,500 tons) of shell were planted in July to begin the restoration of natural beds in New Jersey and Delaware, where the abundance of oysters had declined.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The revitalization project was funded in 2005 with a total of $750,000 from Congress, the Cumberland Empowerment Zone Corporation, the States of Delaware and New Jersey, the Delaware River and Bay Authority, and the oyster industries of both states. The oyster beds were then monitored to determine the success of the planting effort.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“Oyster recruitment doubled in the target areas of the bay, which is a big success. The 2005 program could lead, in three years, to a 50-percent increase in the number of oysters that could be harvested,” said Powell.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]“These findings hold great promise as to the potential outcome of this important work being done in the bay,” said Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, a member-organization of the restoration group. “It also demonstrates just how critical working together in a bay-wide partnership is to restoring one of the Delaware Estuary’s signature species, from both an ecological and economic standpoint.”[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]With the additional $2 million Congressional funding allocation that was granted for 2006, the oyster shell-planting and transplant program will be able to continue and expand at a much greater scale. This bi-state program is a collaborative effort at the local, state and federal levels that will benefit the environment, as well as the oyster industry.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The 2005 funding request for the Oyster Shell-Planting Revitalization Project appropriation was initiated in the House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Congressman Frank LoBiondo (D-N.J.), and it was supported in the Senate by Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), then-Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del).[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Copies of the “2005[/size] [size 3]Shell-Planting Program in Delaware Bay” report can be found online at www.DelawareEstuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font] [center][size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Background Summary[/font][/size][/center]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]For centuries, oysters have provided a sustainable food supply and contributed to the local economies of Delaware and New Jersey communities. One to two million bushels were harvested every year during the 1930s, when they initially began to decline. The introduction of the oyster disease MSX in the 1950s, followed in the 1990s by a second disease, Dermo, has resulted in a significant decline in the oyster population. Consequently, the industry has been imperiled.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The oyster population rebounded somewhat by 2000 due to the combined efforts of both states and the oyster industry, producing some 100,000 bushels per year. However, today the oyster population is feeling the effects of five years of below-average biological recruitment (i.e., the number of young oysters entering the population each year) for unknown reasons.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The 2005 Oyster Shell-Planting Revitalization Project involved the planting of clean surf clam shells on oyster beds to provide the uncontaminated surface oyster larvae need for attachment after floating in the water. Once larvae are recruited or attached, the shells can remain in those beds until either the oysters reach maturity or some can be transplanted to other beds in disease-free areas to revitalize them. Over time, the shell planting and transplant program could increase production to approximately 200,000 to 400,000 bushels per year, with a possible economic impact of up to $60 million between the two states.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For a short history of oysters in the Delaware Bay, information on the life cycle of oysters, other oyster facts and a description of the revitalization project, please consult the spring 2005 issue of Estuary News, a quarterly newsletter available at www.DelawareEstuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For more information on the oyster revitalization project, please contact Eric Powell of Rutgers’ Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at (856) 785-0074, extension 4300.[/size][/font]
[signature]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The report reveals that, while overall oyster abundance has declined to its lowest levels throughout the bay since the onset of Dermo disease (circa 1989), as well as to one of the lowest levels in the 1953 to 2005 record, abundance has increased in the areas where shell planting took place. Oyster larvae require a clean, hard surface to which they can attach for future growth, but the sources of these shells have diminished over time.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The 2005 shell-planting program was designed specifically to address the issue of low recruitment by restoring six critical beds in the Delaware Bay. As a result, 280,000 bushels (approximately 150 acres or 10,500 tons) of shell were planted in July to begin the restoration of natural beds in New Jersey and Delaware, where the abundance of oysters had declined.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The revitalization project was funded in 2005 with a total of $750,000 from Congress, the Cumberland Empowerment Zone Corporation, the States of Delaware and New Jersey, the Delaware River and Bay Authority, and the oyster industries of both states. The oyster beds were then monitored to determine the success of the planting effort.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]“Oyster recruitment doubled in the target areas of the bay, which is a big success. The 2005 program could lead, in three years, to a 50-percent increase in the number of oysters that could be harvested,” said Powell.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]“These findings hold great promise as to the potential outcome of this important work being done in the bay,” said Kathy Klein, executive director of the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, a member-organization of the restoration group. “It also demonstrates just how critical working together in a bay-wide partnership is to restoring one of the Delaware Estuary’s signature species, from both an ecological and economic standpoint.”[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]With the additional $2 million Congressional funding allocation that was granted for 2006, the oyster shell-planting and transplant program will be able to continue and expand at a much greater scale. This bi-state program is a collaborative effort at the local, state and federal levels that will benefit the environment, as well as the oyster industry.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]The 2005 funding request for the Oyster Shell-Planting Revitalization Project appropriation was initiated in the House of Representatives by Congressman Mike Castle (R-Del.) and Congressman Frank LoBiondo (D-N.J.), and it was supported in the Senate by Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.), then-Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), and Senator Tom Carper (D-Del).[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]Copies of the “2005[/size] [size 3]Shell-Planting Program in Delaware Bay” report can be found online at www.DelawareEstuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font] [center][size 3][font "Times New Roman"]Background Summary[/font][/size][/center]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]For centuries, oysters have provided a sustainable food supply and contributed to the local economies of Delaware and New Jersey communities. One to two million bushels were harvested every year during the 1930s, when they initially began to decline. The introduction of the oyster disease MSX in the 1950s, followed in the 1990s by a second disease, Dermo, has resulted in a significant decline in the oyster population. Consequently, the industry has been imperiled.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The oyster population rebounded somewhat by 2000 due to the combined efforts of both states and the oyster industry, producing some 100,000 bushels per year. However, today the oyster population is feeling the effects of five years of below-average biological recruitment (i.e., the number of young oysters entering the population each year) for unknown reasons.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[size 3][font "Times New Roman"]The 2005 Oyster Shell-Planting Revitalization Project involved the planting of clean surf clam shells on oyster beds to provide the uncontaminated surface oyster larvae need for attachment after floating in the water. Once larvae are recruited or attached, the shells can remain in those beds until either the oysters reach maturity or some can be transplanted to other beds in disease-free areas to revitalize them. Over time, the shell planting and transplant program could increase production to approximately 200,000 to 400,000 bushels per year, with a possible economic impact of up to $60 million between the two states.[/font][/size]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For a short history of oysters in the Delaware Bay, information on the life cycle of oysters, other oyster facts and a description of the revitalization project, please consult the spring 2005 issue of Estuary News, a quarterly newsletter available at www.DelawareEstuary.org.[/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]
[font "Times New Roman"][size 3]For more information on the oyster revitalization project, please contact Eric Powell of Rutgers’ Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory at (856) 785-0074, extension 4300.[/size][/font]
[signature]