Oyster Cultch Relief and Reef Configuration

This project will test the oyster recruitment and growth ability of different types of cultch material in Mobile Bay, Alabama. Oyster density and growth has declined in Mobile Bay due to damage from hurricanes and increases in oyster drill populations. This project will restore reef and help inform future restoration project materials. The project states four objectives: to “restore subtidal reef habitats along a salinity gradient, to determine if there are differences in oyster settlement, growth, and survival on reefs of differing levels of relief and orientation relative to currents. to determine optimum reef material relief needed to restore oyster density. and to estimate the benefits of deploying cultch in certain configurations instead of traditional cultch broadcast methods.”