Macrofaunal Assemblages on Oyster Aquaculture and Rock Reef Habitat in Long Island Sound

Mercaldo‐Allen, Renée; Clark, Paul; Liu, Yuan; Meseck, Shannon L.; Milke, Lisa M.; Redman, Dylan H.

doi:10.1002/naaq.10127

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The three-dimensional structure of oyster aquaculture infrastructure is providing comparable foraging, resting and nursery grounds to many natural habitats like remnant oyster reefs, rocky reefs, seagrasses and mangroves (Mercaldo-Allen et al 2019;Mart ınez-Baena et al 2022;Theuerkauf et al 2022). Further studies on oyster gardens initiatives are needed to determine the habitat provided to the larger and more mobile fish species that inhabit these canal estates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An ecological assessment of Australia's first community oyster gardens

Boström‐Einarsson¹,

Martínez‐Baena²,

Diggles³

et al. 2022

Eco Management Restoration

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Summary Oyster gardening is a community‐driven activity where oysters are grown in cages hanging off docks or other coastal infrastructure. Besides the provision of adult oysters for restoration programmes, oyster gardening may also support other ecosystem services such as providing habitat for fishes and invertebrates as well as encouraging community involvement and citizen science. Australia's first oyster gardening programme was undertaken in a canal estate on Bribie Island in Moreton Bay, Queensland between October 2016 and November 2017. Oyster gardens consisting of plastic mesh cages were deployed with either three species of bivalves (polyculture), or exclusively Sydney Rock Oysters (monoculture) to investigate whether the habitat value differed between the two garden types. After one year of growth, polyculture cages supported higher abundances and species richness of both invertebrates and fish compared to the monoculture gardens. Our study showed that oyster gardening can provide habitat for a range of invertebrate and fish species in the highly modified coastal environment of a canal estate. Further studies are needed to discern whether these oyster gardens would also support larger and mobile fauna, such as species with commercial and recreational importance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The three‐dimensional structure of oyster aquaculture infrastructure is providing comparable foraging, resting and nursery grounds to many natural habitats like remnant oyster reefs, rocky reefs, seagrasses and mangroves (Mercaldo‐Allen et al . 2019; Martínez‐Baena et al . 2022; Theuerkauf et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An ecological assessment of Australia's first community oyster gardens

Boström‐Einarsson¹,

Martínez‐Baena²,

Diggles³

et al. 2022

Eco Management Restoration

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Exploring video and eDNA metabarcoding methods to assess oyster aquaculture cages as fish habitat

Mercaldo‐Allen

Clark

Liu

et al. 2021

Aquacult. Environ. Interact.

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Multi-tiered oyster aquaculture cages may provide habitat for fish assemblages similar to natural structured seafloor. Methods were developed to assess fish assemblages associated with aquaculture gear and boulder habitat using underwater video census combined with environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. Action cameras were mounted on 3 aquaculture cages at a commercial eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica farm (‘cage’) and among 3 boulders on a natural rock reef (‘boulder’) from June to August 2017 in Long Island Sound, USA. Interval and continuous video recording strategies were tested. During interval recording, cameras collected 8 min video segments hourly from 07:00 to 19:00 h on cages only. Continuous video was also collected for 2-3 h on oyster cages and boulders. Data loggers recorded light intensity and current speed. Seawater was collected for eDNA metabarcoding on the reef and farm. MaxN measurements of fish abundance were calculated in video, and 7 fish species were observed. Black sea bass Centropristis striata, cunner Tautogolabrus adspersus, scup Stenotomus chrysops, and tautog Tautoga onitis were the most abundant species observed in both oyster cage and boulder videos. In continuous video, black sea bass, scup, and tautog were observed more frequently and at higher abundance on the cage farm, while cunner were observed more frequently and at higher abundance on boulders within the rock reef. eDNA metabarcoding detected 42 fish species at the farm and reef. Six species were detected using both methods. Applied in tandem, video recording and eDNA provided a comprehensive approach for describing fish assemblages in difficult to sample structured oyster aquaculture and boulder habitats.

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De novo reefs: Fish habitat provision by oyster aquaculture varies with farming method

Martínez‐Baena

Lanham

McLeod

et al. 2022

Aquacult. Environ. Interact.

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Aquaculture industries have the capacity to produce positive ecosystem service benefits, such as the provision of habitat to wild animals. Oyster cultivation is the oldest and largest aquaculture industry in south-eastern Australia. Oyster spat are grown to marketable size in rack-and-rail (‘racks’) or longline-and-basket (‘baskets’) configurations, which add structure to estuarine waters. This study assessed: (1) how the fish communities associated with oyster farms vary with production method; (2) how communities of fish utilise oyster infrastructure, as compared to adjacent natural habitats; and (3) whether oyster infrastructure can serve as de facto oyster reefs by supporting similar fish communities. Remote underwater video surveys, conducted during summer and winter of 2 study years, revealed that fish observations and species richness were generally greater for rack than basket cultivation. Both types of oyster farms supported at least as many species of fish as adjacent natural habitats, including oyster reef, seagrass, mangrove and bare sediment. Fish communities were, in general, most similar between racks and baskets and most dissimilar between racks and bare sediments. Oyster farms supported species of fish otherwise limited to habitats with wild oysters, and unique harvested fish species were observed more frequently at racks. Fish use of oyster-growing infrastructure for foraging and shelter mirrored use of natural biogenic habitats. Overall, this study suggests that the oyster aquaculture infrastructure can support fish communities with species composition similar to those of natural biogenic habitats, although this service is dependent on farming method. Ecosystem services provided by aquaculture should be considered in estuarine habitat enhancement, conservation and restoration.

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Macrofaunal Assemblages on Oyster Aquaculture and Rock Reef Habitat in Long Island Sound

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

An ecological assessment of Australia's first community oyster gardens

An ecological assessment of Australia's first community oyster gardens

Exploring video and eDNA metabarcoding methods to assess oyster aquaculture cages as fish habitat

De novo reefs: Fish habitat provision by oyster aquaculture varies with farming method

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