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Revival Of Once-Abundant Olympia Oyster Population Could Help Fight Effects Of Climate Change
"We are here to bring back oysters to Elkhorn Slough where they have lived for millennia."
Scientists, researchers, and volunteers are working on an Olympian quest - to restore the Olympian oyster to once-historic levels at a coastal wetland along Monterey Bay, an effort that may help to curb the impacts of the warming climate.
At the legendary Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, the line forms early. If you're lucky to get a seat at the seafood counter, you're in for a treat: the restaurant just got a fresh shipment of the only oyster native to the West Coast of North America.
The Olympia oyster, native to the Puget Sound area and named after Olympia, Washington, is as small as a silver dollar but big in flavor. They are described as slightly briny with a coppery finish.
"I grew up eating these oysters and I think they're just fantastic," exclaimed Swan co-owner Steve Sancimino
Olympias are not endangered, but their once-abundant numbers have dramatically declined, largely due to overharvesting and mining practices during California's Gold Rush, as well as persistent problems of pollution and loss of habitat.
Scientists, researchers, and volunteers are working to restore the Olympias to their historic levels in the wild. At this point, the Olympia oysters are not able to reproduce at numbers that can be self-sustaining.
One Bay Area restoration site is located at one of California's largest estuaries.
"We are here to bring back oysters to Elkhorn Slough where they have lived for millennia," explained Dr. Kerstin Wasson, who heads up the pioneering restoration project at the slough and works for NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserve. "We're doing it with optimism and hoping that if we can bring back a million oysters to Elkhorn Slough, they'll be self-sustaining. And today is one step towards that goal."
In the slough, because of agricultural runoff from the Salinas River, the restored oysters won't be harvested. But their intended role is big and critical: to filter water, stabilize the shoreline, sequester carbon, and provide habitat for other creatures - all big benefits as the planet warms.
"It's really important that we help to restore this population," said Dr. Luke Gardner, who works for California Sea Grant as an aquaculture extension specialist. He also works for Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, which is administered by San Jose State University.
At the lab's aquaculture hatchery, specialists "borrow" adult Olympias from the wild at Elkhorn Slough and bring them back to the hatchery to breed baby oysters that will be involved in the restoration effort.
"In a hatchery, we can control a lot of the environment and we can make sure those little babies make it through to being juveniles," noted Gardner.
The baby oysters require tender loving care: micro-algae for food, the right temperatures, protection from predators, and plenty of fresh water.
"They're very needy and very dirty so they are really fun to take care of, but they need a lot of attention," said Moss Landing Marine Lab scientist Jacob Harris.
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