On October 23, 2018, a team of volunteers, researchers, and staff placed thousands of juvenile Olympia oysters into Elkhorn Slough Reserve in Monterey Bay—2,400 live oysters that were at least three months old, and 16,950 additional live oysters that were only about a month old. Although fewer of the month-old oysters will survive, the estimated number of oysters that will survive to adulthood is well over 10 times the current Olympia oyster population on the reserve, giving the local population a sorely needed boost.
The project, funded by a grant from the Anthropocene Institute and supported by California Sea Grant, is the first attempt to support native oyster restoration using aquaculture in California. California Sea Grant Extension Specialist Luke Gardner, who is based at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) in Monterey Bay, worked with project leader Kerstin Wasson, Elkhorn Slough Reserve’s Research Coordinator, and colleagues at MLML to help spawn and raise the juvenile oysters in MLML’s new aquaculture facility…
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