Estuarial wildlife in Southwest Florida is in crisis. Watersheds, built to accommodate booms in urbanization, drain into the estuaries, compromising water quality. The Coastal Watershed Institute at Florida Gulf Coast University hopes to negate some of this ecological damage through a large scale restoration project of oyster reefs, which filter water while providing food and habitat for fish, birds, and mammals.

    Creating an oyster reef is no small task. The CWI relies on community volunteers to assist in all stages of the project. Coordinating the volunteer initiative is Lesli Haynes, an FGCU graduate and marine science laboratory manager whose senior research project focused on the recruitment of decapods and fish to an estuarial oyster reef.

    Reef construction begins with fossilized shells to which oyster larvae like to attach. Volunteers stuff the shells into mesh bags that weigh upwards of 10 pounds when filled. Hundreds of bags are needed for one reef.  The scale requires bagging to continue throughout the year, breaking only during the brutally hot summer months. 

    Four thousand volunteer hours have been donated by 600 diverse volunteers. High school and college students (and faculty), community members, fishermen, boaters, and state and local agency members have rolled up their sleeves to help build the reefs. Repeat volunteering is common. With this help, the project has completed reefs in San Carlos Bay, Estero Bay, and Henderson Creek. Haynes says that the deployment of one reef starts “months prior to deployment day”, beginning with the bagging and extending on to the coordination of deployment volunteer groups.

    “We load the filled bags onto trailers, recruit volunteers for the deployment of bags, and line up rental boats and captains to haul the bags and the volunteers to the site,” says Haynes.

    The trailers and boats must be at the ramp for transport on deployment day. Volunteers sign in and start work on moving the shell bags from the trailers to the awaiting barges. When the bags are loaded, the volunteers and organizers board boats to travel to the deployment site. A human conveyor belt forms, passing bags down the line from the barges to the spot where the new reef is to be established. 

    The scientific payoffs of oyster reef restoration are slow but rewarding. If the reef is successful, growing oysters will thrive within 1 to 2 years. The burgeoning population will often be helped along by the addition of oysters raised in oyster gardens for repopulation purposes.

    But the emotional payoff for the volunteers is more instantaneous. Haynes says that deployment days are filled with excitement. “It’s wonderful to be a part of it. Once the reef is complete, everyone cheers. This year we actually did the wave. They are so happy to be doing something to help our local estuary.” 

Learn more about the Coastal Watershed Institute’s oyster restoration program: 

Community-Based Restoration of Oyster Reefs

Restoration in Action: Reef Building

Volunteer Information