Presentation Abstract

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community recently began a restoration project to establish, expand, and research Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, populations on reservation tidelands. For our pilot project, we evenly distributed seeded cultch in two pocket estuaries in Similk and northern Skagit Bays during the summer of 2012 and spring of 2013. Subsequently, we initiated a long-term monitoring program that included measuring reproductive benchmarks to determine population expansion potential. While brooding data have been collected at one other site in northern Puget Sound (i.e. Fidalgo Bay), it is likely that oysters in pocket estuaries will be exposed to different environmental conditions than the Fidalgo Bay oysters. Our goal was to quantify the timing and environmental conditions for peak brooding of oysters in pocket estuaries. Brooding status was recorded from May to early September 2015 and water temperature was continuously logged at each of the two restoration sites. Our data clearly indicate that northern Puget Sound oysters located in pocket estuaries can begin brooding before May when daily minimum water temperatures reach 11°C, 2°C below the published thermal threshold. Managers and scientists working with native oysters in pocket estuaries should target early to mid-April as the optimal time for restoration expansion efforts.

Session Title

General species and food webs

Conference Track

Species and Food Webs

Conference Name

Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2016 : Vancouver, B.C.)

Document Type

Event

Start Date

2016 12:00 AM

End Date

2016 12:00 AM

Location

2016SSEC

Type of Presentation

Poster

Genre/Form

conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events); posters

Contributing Repository

Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Subjects – Topical (LCSH)

Olympia oyster--Washington (State)--Puget Sound--Reproduction

Geographic Coverage

Puget Sound (Wash.); Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)

Rights

This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

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2015 Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, brooding results from northern Puget Sound

2016SSEC

The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community recently began a restoration project to establish, expand, and research Olympia oyster, Ostrea lurida, populations on reservation tidelands. For our pilot project, we evenly distributed seeded cultch in two pocket estuaries in Similk and northern Skagit Bays during the summer of 2012 and spring of 2013. Subsequently, we initiated a long-term monitoring program that included measuring reproductive benchmarks to determine population expansion potential. While brooding data have been collected at one other site in northern Puget Sound (i.e. Fidalgo Bay), it is likely that oysters in pocket estuaries will be exposed to different environmental conditions than the Fidalgo Bay oysters. Our goal was to quantify the timing and environmental conditions for peak brooding of oysters in pocket estuaries. Brooding status was recorded from May to early September 2015 and water temperature was continuously logged at each of the two restoration sites. Our data clearly indicate that northern Puget Sound oysters located in pocket estuaries can begin brooding before May when daily minimum water temperatures reach 11°C, 2°C below the published thermal threshold. Managers and scientists working with native oysters in pocket estuaries should target early to mid-April as the optimal time for restoration expansion efforts.