WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • DECEMBER 2023 37 two decades is the associated habitat value provided to fishes and invertebrates, such as shrimp and crabs, by oyster gear (Theuerkauf et al. 2022). Similar to the way aquatic animals congregate around a dock or a three-dimensionally complex coral reef, oyster aquaculture cages are structures that can give animals a place to hide from predators, find food, or rest. Multiple studies along the U.S. east coast and in Delaware have investigated the habitat value of some shellfish aquaculture gear (SAG) for fishes and invertebrates, comparing gear types to each other or to other habitats present within an estuary (Dealteris et al. 2004, Marenghi et al. 2010). These shellfish aquaculture gear (SAG. These studies have found oyster aquaculture gear can support an array of species in relatively high abundances, providing comparable or sometimes superior habitat to other areas, natural seagrass beds, or created oyster reef. Additionally, many species observed around aquaculture gear have direct commercial importance such as blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus; Figure 1), striped bass (Morone saxatilis), Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus), summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), tautog (Tautoga onitis, Figure 2), and black sea bass (Centropristis striata, Figure 3), among others. Oyster farms may therefore be supporting fisheries by providing short-term habitat to juvenile fishes and invertebrates; however, the degree to which In contrast to historical, terrestrial farming operations, where we have focused on how to minimize negative impacts on the environment while optimizing crop yields first, oyster aquaculture can generate positive economic and ecological responses simultaneously, through water filtration, nutrient sequestration, and habitat creation, though the magnitude to which these functions occur still requires further investigation. Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) have been an important resource for communities along the east coast of the United States for centuries. Unfortunately, oyster populations have been greatly reduced in many places, with disease outbreaks (MSX and Dermo), water quality impairment, and overharvest often cited as drivers of modern population decline. The ability of oysters to thrive in many waterways along the U.S. east coast, including in estuaries of the Mid-Atlantic bight, has been further limited by chronic eutrophication from nutrient pollution and low spawning stock biomass. Following declines in wild oyster stocks, oyster gardening programs, artificial oyster reefs, and commercial oyster aquaculture operations have been established along the U.S. east coast, and specifically in Delaware, with goals of restoration and commercial crop production. Oysters and associated aquaculture operations are known to provide ecosystem benefits to coastal waterways. One indirect benefit of oyster aquaculture that has garnered attention in the last Aquaculture Gear Type Affects Eastern Oyster Growth and the Diversity of Aquatic Species Timothy J. Smoot and Edward A. Hale (CONTINUED ON PAGE 38) FIGURE 1. Juvenile blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) captured in one of the oyster aquaculture cages. Photo by Timothy Smoot. FIGURE 2. Juvenile tautog (Tautoga onitis) captured in one of the oyster aquaculture cages. Photo by Timothy Smoot. Oysters and associated aquaculture operations are known to provide ecosystem benefits to coastal waterways. One indirect benefit of oyster aquaculture that has garnered attention in the last two decades is the associated habitat value provided to fishes and invertebrates, such as shrimp and crabs, by oyster gear. Similar to the way aquatic animals congregate around a dock or a three-dimensionally complex coral reef, oyster aquaculture cages are structures that can give animals a place to hide from predators, find food, or rest.
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