Alongside the pier of Libbey鈥檚 Coastal Kitchen and Cocktails, right next to where the Bay Bridge makes landfall on Maryland’s Kent Island, stood six guys in a boat weighed down by more than 30 bags full of oyster shells. Next to them on the boat鈥檚 bottom was a bunch of concrete and fabric mixed together into a half-cylindrical object.
The day before National Oyster Day, seven more guys wearing wetsuits climbed into that water to help their favorite bivalve.
The goal was to build new oyster beds around the pilings left over from an old pier near Libbey鈥檚. It鈥檚 not because the restaurant is looking to source new appetizers 鈥� it鈥檚 just to help clean the bay.
鈥淲e were worried when people would bring the boat here and tie up, and then you know a freighter goes by and the boat starts doing this,鈥� said Walt Petrie, one of the owners of Libbey鈥檚, as he moved his hands up and down. 鈥淲e tore it out.鈥�
The leftover pilings still stand tough and now, there鈥檚 a special tool that can work to restore oyster habitats around those pilings. It鈥檚 called an oyster cuff and it was invented by Niels Lindquist, CEO of North Carolina-based Sandbar Oyster Company.
鈥淭hat was a combination of cloth, plant fiber cloths and then cement to harden it up,鈥� Lindquist said. 鈥淪o it’s proving to be very effective in attracting oyster larvae and then protecting them for the early stages of their growth and then just being basically a catalyst for oyster reef creation.鈥�
The cuffs installed at Libbey鈥檚 were taken to a hatchery in Cambridge first, where a million oyster larvae were planted on them, as well as on the 36 bags of shells also set up around the pilings.
Together, a team led by John Consoli of Kent Island wrapped six bags of shells around each piling, and then two of those cuffs were strapped around a piling.
鈥淚f you looked at cement pilings, concrete pilings, they have beautiful oyster communities growing on them. Then you can see a wood piling right next to it, and you won’t see many oysters at all,鈥� Lindquist said.
鈥淭he reason for that is those pilings are treated to be toxic to a large suite of marine organisms that basically degrade wood,” Lindquist added. “You don’t often see many oysters growing on them. We thought that we could basically put a cement-type material on that cuff on the piling and develop a nice community on that where the wood itself would not support a good community of oysters.鈥�
鈥淚n about a year or two or three, they’ll have a little mini oyster reef at six of these pilings,鈥� Consoli said.
The team set out at low tide Tuesday, but even then, the jellyfish-infested water was a good 7-8 feet deep and the current running through there was still really strong. Those who were in the water used ropes, life preservers and a ladder to help stay anchored where they needed to be.
Then the six guys in the boat would hand the material to those who were in the water, working like a delicate assembly line to get them all in the water. In all, it took about 90 minutes. Not bad for a first-time installation of this material on Kent Island.
鈥淭he way I look at it is, there’s at least one new oyster in the water here,鈥� Consoli said. 鈥淎nd I’m hoping there’s 300,000 or 500,000.鈥�
鈥淥ne adult oyster filters 50 gallons of water a day,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 can’t imagine 500,000 or a million, what they can do.鈥�
Consoli has also grown his own oyster habitat in the water by his house, and most of the guys who were there with him were also doing the same. The hope is that the ease and effectiveness of this project will inspire others along the water to do the same thing.
鈥淗opefully 鈥� you’ll see a nice oyster community growing on the cuff,鈥� Lindquist said. 鈥淚n this part of the bay, there aren’t a lot of larvae in the water to recruit to any of the hard structures here. Hopefully, in the future, with more restoration efforts, there will be many more.鈥�
With the number of private piers and pylons all around the Chesapeake Bay, never mind the different waterfront restaurants and homes there, the volunteers who came together for this installation see this as a simple but potentially powerful way to help restore the bay.
鈥淚’m just thrilled because I just think it’ll set us up for success,鈥� Consoli said. 鈥淚 have like 80 people on Kent Island now who are growing oysters who weren’t growing oysters a year or two ago. Now they can even do this if they have the deep enough water. They can do piling cuffs, too. So I’m excited. I think it can only lead to positive things for the bay.鈥�
Consoli said the project at Libbey鈥檚 cost a few thousand dollars, and that included two four-foot-long cuffs around a total of six pilings, plus the bags of oysters. The oyster larvae was the most expensive part. The jellyfish swimming around were just a painful hassle.
鈥淚 got stung all over. My hands have been stung. They got into my gloves,鈥� Consoli said afterward. He wasn鈥檛 the only one.
鈥淓verybody got stung. It’s a badge of honor.鈥�
But it was clear that he, and everyone else who were in and on the water, believed it was worth it.
鈥淥ne thing we need to do is get the bay cleaned up,鈥� Petrie said. 鈥淭his would be a great if this works here and they can do it in other places. Just imagine how it helps to clean the bay.鈥�
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