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Estimating Ecological Benefits and Socio-Economic Impacts from Oyster Reef Restoration in the Choptank River Complex, Chesapeake Bay
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2020
[PDF-3.26 MB]
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Description:"The overarching purpose of this project was to explore potential changes in commercial fisheries harvest and regional economic impacts resulting from the oyster reef restoration efforts in the Choptank River System on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. These oyster restoration efforts were driven by the Executive Order 13508 for Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration (2009) and supported by the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement (2014) that was signed by governors of the six states of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, mayor of Washington D.C., and officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Chesapeake Bay Commission. Specifically, these Chesapeake Bay Program partners have a stated goal to “Restore native oyster habitat and populations in 10 tributaries by 2025 and ensure their protection” in the Chesapeake Bay. This project focuses on the first three tributaries in Maryland chosen for restoration – Harris Creek, Little Choptank River, and Tred Avon River. The projected cost for achieving the total restoration acreage target was $72 million – actual costs incurred to this point have been $53 million. To accomplish this, the project team developed an ecological trophic model of the Choptank River System, which also incorporated commercial fishers as top predators in the food web. The abundance of oysters and associated filter feeder bivalves in the model were manipulated across different scenarios to examine the effect of these organisms on ecological production, and ultimately, seafood harvested and regional economic impacts to Dorchester and Talbot counties – the two Maryland counties in the NOAA-defined Choptank Habitat Focus Area. Specifically, these scenarios are: Scenario 1 – Young Reef in current sanctuaries, Scenario 2 – Mature Oyster Reef with Oyster biomass increase in sanctuaries, Scenario 3 – Mature Oyster Reef with biomass increases in Oysters and associated Filter Feeders, Scenario 4 – Fished Down Oyster biomass, sanctuaries opened to harvest, and oyster density back to pre-restoration levels, and Scenario 5 – Fished Down with decreased biomass of Oysters and associated Filter Feeders, sanctuaries opened to harvest"--Executive summary.
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Rights Information:Public Domain
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Compliance:Submitted
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