Oyster Reefs

Why are oyster reefs important?Crab among oysters

 

 Oysters provide several benefits to the environment:

  • Improve water quality by naturally filtering the water as they feed

  • Essential and complex habitat for hundreds of organisms including commercial fish species (especially juveniles) and crabs

  • Oyster reefs are utilized by fish, crustaceans, other bivalves, birds, and mammals

  • Protection of the shoreline from storm surges, erosion, and boat wake

Oyster reef with bird

  • Increased seagrass habitat through improved water quality and protection from wave energy

  • Oysters are indicators for overall health of the bay

  • Oyster reefs supplement and protect the adjacent mangrove habitat as nurseries for fish species which will increase fisheries

 

Restoring oyster reefsOyster reef

Naples Bay has lost 80% of its oyster reefs since the 1950s due to dredging for navigation and development projects. Natural Resources staff, in cooperation with other agencies and the community, are working to restore some of this vital habitat. Oyster reefs are being restored by providing hard substrate, such as shell-filled mesh bags and/or loose shell and rock, for juvenile oysters (spat) to attach to and grow. Over time, more and more juvenile oysters attach to these substrates as well as other oysters and a reef is formed. 

 

What can I do?

 

Volunteers bagging oysters

  • Provide oyster habitat - homeowners can place riprap along their shoreline or in front of their seawall to protect from storm surge and provide oyster habitat

  • Volunteer in local oyster restoration efforts 

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