Artificial oyster reefs show early signs of promise

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – Artificial reefs that were installed in some of Delaware’s inland bays this past spring and summer are showing early signs of promise.

The oyster reefs, installed in the Rehoboth Bay and near the Assawoman Bay, are helping environmental scientists understand what kind of challenges future larger reefs could face.

Oysters are a keystone species for the inland bays. They provide water filtration and habitat for other fish and vertebrates.

We’re told these reefs have already attracted things like hermit crabs and new oysters, which is a great sign.

Andrew McGowan, an Environmental Scientist at the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays said, “So far we’ve had some really positive signs. So one of the reefs had a tremendous amount of recruitment which means it had a large set of baby oysters on it this past fall which was unexpected but a really good sign and it bodes well for the future right so more baby oysters mean more adult oysters in future years.”

If you want to help with the oyster recovery effort, you can sign up to help monitor or build future reefs at www.inlandbays.org.