After a year of research and planning, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation will install an oyster reef near its Medouie Creek salt marsh Monday and Tuesday.
Published by The Inquirer and Mirror
The reef will be built using oyster castles, basically concrete LEGO blocks that provide a place for oysters to grow. This reef is designed to protect the salt marsh shoreline from erosion while improving water quality and harbor health.
Initial funding for monitoring was provided by the Nantucket Shellfish Association and project design and installation funding came from a grant from the Massachusetts In-Lieu Fee Program.
The Town of Nantucket Natural Resources Shellfish Hatchery staff partnered with the Conservation Foundation on project design, monitoring, installation and through growing oyster spat on half of the castles.
The installation of the oyster castles at Medouie Creek is the first of its kind in the state.
“We recognize the wealth of resources we have in our acres of permanently protected open space and in the past few years we have focused our coastal research on resilience, particularly in our salt marshes,” said Jen Karberg, Ph.D., the Foundation’s research program supervisor.