Oatland Site

GADNR in partnership with the Coastal Conservation Association of Georgia and the Oatland Island Wildlife Center (OIWC) created the Oatland Island site within Richardson Creek and adjacent to the OIWC nature trail in Savannah.

Strategy

To construct 0.055 acres of essential fish habitat using materials suitable for larval oyster settlement including recycled oyster shell bags placed on top of wooden pallets, and spat sticks to encourage reef formation along the shoreline. It is hoped that the area between the oyster reefs and the marsh will fill with sediment and marsh grass.

In 2014 volunteers and GADNR staff deployed 913 recycled oyster shell bags and 24 spat sticks at the site in parallel rows along a vegetative edge of the shore line and in 2015 a section of reef with high recruitment of oysters was expanded with an additional 155 bags on pallets.

Results

Monitoring was conducted periodically since the initial deployment. Some sections of the reef recruited oysters successfully and thrived. However, the other areas subsided into the mud before oysters could establish. Maintenance was conducted on the subsided portion of the reef in 2015 by placing 515 new bags of oyster over existing reef areas overtaken by sediment. Site monitoring will continue to determine if additional materials are needed for reef sustainability.