10 Years, 100 Acres
Olympia oyster habitat restoration in Puget Sound hits a major milestone
In 2010, Puget Sound Restoration Fund set an ambitious goal of collectively restoring 100 acres of Olympia oyster habitat by 2020 through collaborative efforts at priority locations in Puget Sound. When we set the 100-acre goal in 2010, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) estimated there were only 150 acres of dense native oyster aggregations remaining in Puget Sound, compared to 10,000- 20,000 acres historically. Though oysters existed sparsely at many locations, it was the habitat structure associated with dense assemblages that was missing.
By the end of 2019, PSRF and a vast network of partners had collectively restored 84 acres through a combination of two types of restoration projects: stock rebuilding, through the transfer of seed oysters set on Pacific oyster shell (i.e., seeded cultch) or individual adult Olympia oysters (i.e., singles), and shell enhancements, in which Pacific oyster shell is added as settlement substrate, enabling larval oysters to once again colonize historic ground.
In October 2020, we reached our 100 acre goal with a 15-acre shell enhancement project in Liberty Bay, near Poulsbo, thanks to support from the US Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA NRCS), WDFW, and the City of Poulsbo. We gratefully salute the many tideland owners, partners, and funders for embracing and powering a vision of restored native oyster beds.
Explore some of our key restoration projects in the map below. These sites were identified as priority sites for Olympia oyster restoration in the 2012 WDFW Plan for Rebuilding Olympia Oyster (Ostrea lurida) Populations in Puget Sound . Continue scrolling for a deeper dive into our 2020 Liberty Bay enhancement project.
Key Projects Around the Sound
Drayton Harbor
Fidalgo Bay
Kiket Lagoon and Lone Tree Lagoon
Sequim Bay
Port Gamble Bay
Quilcene Bay
Scandia
Dogfish Bay
Smith Cove
Chico Bay (Dyes Inlet)
Oyster Bay (Dyes Inlet)
Sinclair Inlet
Anna's Bay (Hood Canal)
Palela Bay (Squaxin Island)
Henderson Inlet
Liberty Bay
Drayton Harbor
Over the course of iterative stock rebuilding efforts from 2014-2019, PSRF transferred 1,350 bags of seeded cultch and 25,000 oyster singles to this Harbor, covering approximately 6 acres.
Partners: USDA NRCS, Drayton Harbor Oyster Company, Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington Conservation Corps
Fidalgo Bay
Fidalgo Bay was an important site in early efforts to build not only the Olympia oyster population, but also develop community engagement in restoration. Iterative small scale stock rebuilding projects and shell enhancements took place at this site from 2002 - 2018, spanning 4.5 acres. The oyster population has increased significantly since, extending well beyond the enhancement footprints.
Partners: Taylor Shellfish, WDFW, Skagit County Marine Resources Committee (MRC), Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, Samish Indian Nation, Northwest Straits Foundation, Rose Foundation, City of Anacortes, and many others.
Kiket Lagoon and Lone Tree Lagoon
PSRF initiated stock rebuilding efforts in these two lagoons in partnership with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community in 2013, transferring 363 bags of seeded cultch over approximately 2 acres. Olympia oyster restoration work in this area is ongoing to identify strategic locations in Similk Bay for future work, spearheaded by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community.
Partner: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community
Sequim Bay
Stock rebuilding efforts on Jamestown S'Klallam tidelands took place at this site between 2012 and 2019. Five hundred bags of seeded cultch were transferred, plus adult singles, and spread across 2 acres.
Partners: Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, Clallam County MRC, USDA NRCS
Port Gamble Bay
Port Gamble Bay was the site of a 10-acre, 2-year shell enhancement and stock rebuilding effort, with 1.2 million oyster seed transferred to the bay. After shell enhancements and seeding efforts 2014-2016, oyster density quadrupled in the Bay, from 8.98 oysters per square meter in April 2015 to 36.4 oysters per square meter in May 2017. Funding from the Washington Department of Ecology was also instrumental in establishing the Kenneth K. Chew Center for Shellfish Research and Restoration to support Olympia oyster seed production for priority sites not just in Port Gamble Bay, but throughout Puget Sound.
Partners: Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe, Washington Department of Ecology, Kitsap County, Olympic Property Group, Washington Conservation Corps, Hood Canal Oyster Co., and many private tideland owners.
Quilcene Bay
Stock enhancement work took in Quilcene Bay in 2016 and 2017 on approximately 2 acres of private and public tidelands, along with population surveys. We are currently investigating this Bay as a site for a potential future shell enhancement project.
Partners: WDFW, Jefferson County MRC, Private tideland owners
Scandia
This part of Liberty Bay was the site of a critical lightbulb moment for PSRF and WDFW. After observing Olympia oysters in abundance at this site on relic Pacific oyster shell left behind by an oyster farm, and simultaneously seeing no oysters in the adjacent soft mud, it became apparent that settlement structure was a major limiting factor for population growth. Thus, the restoration technique of adding Pacific oyster shell as hard settlement substrate - a.k.a. "shell enhancement" - was born! Iterative shell enhancements totaling 10 acres were completed at this site from 2005 - 2011.
Partners: WDFW, Suquamish Tribe, NOAA Community-based Restoration Program, USDA NRCS, The Nature Conservancy, US Navy, Hood Canal Oyster Co., Port of Poulsbo
Dogfish Bay
Dogfish Bay is an Olympia oyster stronghold once again, after years of seeding and shell enhancements dating back to 2000 and involving over 25 collaborators. PSRF spread seed in 2000, 2002, and 2006, and completed annual shell enhancements from 2007-2011, totaling approximately 10 acres. Read more.
Partners: Suquamish Tribe, WDFW, WDNR, Taylor Shellfish Farms, USDA, US Navy, EPA, The Nature Conservancy, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, Hood Canal Oyster Company, University of Washington, The Russell Family Foundation, Delta Marine, Safeway Foundation, East Kitsap Community Salmon Fund, private tideland owners
Smith Cove
176 bags of seeded cultch were transferred to this site on the Seattle waterfront in 2018, spread across 0.5 acres. An additional 500 bags of seeded cultch were transferred in 2021. PSRF staff will continue to monitor the development of the Olympia oyster population in this bay in the coming years.
Partner: Port of Seattle
Chico Bay (Dyes Inlet)
In 2018, 500 seeded cultch bags were transferred and 500 cubic yards of shell were spread on tidelands owned and managed by the Suquamish Tribe. Restoration efforts spanned 5 acres.
Partners: Suquamish Tribe, USDA NRCS, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, Burning Foundation
Oyster Bay (Dyes Inlet)
A 0.5 acre restoration project including a shell enhancement and seeded cultch transfer took place at this site in 2011. We hoped to see a population density of 75 oysters per square meter after our work, and within one year we observed population levels at more than double that density!
Partners: Suquamish Tribe, Washington Department of Natural Resources (WADNR), private tideland owners
Sinclair Inlet
In 2019, PSRF completed a 15 acre shell enhancement project in this inlet, at the site of an historic Oyster Reserve.
Partners: USDA NRCS, Suquamish Tribe, Kitsap County, USDA NRCS, Suquamish Tribe, Patagonia
Anna's Bay (Hood Canal)
PSRF produced 400 bags of seeded cultch for the Skokomish Tribe to spread on approximately 2 acres in Anna's Bay, Hood Canal in 2020.
Partners: Skokomish Tribe, USDA NRCS
Palela Bay (Squaxin Island)
In 2011, PSRF and the Squaxin Island Tribe completed a shell enhancement project across 2 acres. Later, close to a million singles were transferred to this and other sites on Squaxin Island. Within the last few years, the tribe has seen the Olympia oyster population growing in Palela Bay.
Partners: Squaxin Island Tribe, Taylor Shellfish
Henderson Inlet
Single Olympia oysters have been out planted in Henderson Inlet for several years on tidelands owned and managed by the Nisqually Indian Tribe, including 150,000 in 2018, 140,000 in 2019, and 40,000 in 2020. The goal is to boost the breeding population. Many of the singles in the earlier seeding efforts were outplanted initially in mesh bags to provide predator protection prior to spreading. The impact from Japanese oyster drills at this site has been high. Moving forward, we’ll need to put our collective thinking caps on regarding next steps.
Partners: Nisqually Indian Tribe, WSU Meyer’s Pt, Thurston County, Thurston Conservation District, USDA NRCS, Elliott’s Oyster House, Charlotte Martin Foundation
Liberty Bay
In October of 2020, we completed the last 15 acres of Olympia oyster habitat restoration, crossing our 100-acre goal line, at the head of Liberty Bay. Keep scrolling for a deeper dive into our work there!
Partners: USDA NCRS, WDFW, City of Poulsbo, Suquamish Tribe, CCA Washington, Elliott's Oyster House, Confluence Environmental
Habitat Restoration in Liberty Bay
In early October of 2020, PSRF spread 1,500 cubic yards of Pacific oyster shell over 15 acres. This project marked the final stretch of an ambitious 10-year goal to collaboratively restore 100 acres of native oyster settlement habitat by 2020. PSRF has been working on habitat enhancement and stock rebuilding at sites in this waterbody for decades; the 15-acre shell enhancement is the largest to date. The story of this project was published in the Kitsap Sun .
PSRF's Habitat Team spent many summer field days doing pre-project assessments, and selecting the ideal location for the shell enhancement.
The barge containing 1,500 cubic yards of Pacific oyster shell makes its way into the head of Liberty Bay.
PSRF staff and the tugboat skipper work to coordinate the movement of the barge and the timing of the pump to distribute shell across the project area.
PSRF Executive Director Betsy Peabody and Technician Steven Schreck operate the pump to spray shell into the Bay.
The loader moves shell around the barge and piles it by the pump, enabling continuous spraying of shell.
Using our high-accuracy GNSS receiver and tablet, PSRF Program Director Brian Allen sits at the edge of the barge and directs operations so that shell spray fills the pre-determined project area.
A week later, the edge of the shell enhancement area is visible at a low tide.
Over the coming years, the PSRF team will monitor this area in the hopes of seeing the native oyster population in Liberty Bay continue to expand.
Our Partners in Restoration
We reached our 10 year, 100 acre milestone thanks to the collaboration and support of our many partners and funders:
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (State Resource Manager)
Tribes (Shellfish Co-Managers)
Shellfish growers
Government Agencies
Foundations
Universities/Researchers
Private donors & tideland owners (countless)
Writers, reporters, film-makers
Story Map Created By: Gray McKenna, Kelp and Oyster Program Specialist
