2022 SOST Opportunities and Actions Roundtable
Summary: Our organization in investing $20+ million to construct two experimental conservation/restoration oyster hatcheries and a research center to acclerate oyster reef restoration, designed to be self-sustaining and responsive to climate change driven sea level rise. Our approach will be designed to allow oyster reef development where it is not now possible because of oyster larvae recruitment is insufficient as a result of low population density, etc. We hope to design oyster restoration in conjunction with other restoration efforts in a synergistic fashion such as suggested in the recent National Academy of Science report on Gulf of Mexico restoration, to create diverse and new habitat contributing to living shoreline development. We are also looking to maximize carbon sequestration capabilities of reefs beyond the 8.5 tons/acre/year some literature predicts possible through innovative design.
Sector: Academia, NGO, Philanthropy
Organization: Harte Research Institute Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi
POC: Larry McKinney, larry.mckinney@tamucc.edu