Oyster Reef Restoration Funding Available for Chesapeake Bay Watermen
Virginia's recently renewed aquaculture RCPP project with VIMS and VMRC offers an excellent partnership opportunity for oyster producers to restore more underwater acreage for future harvests.
Richmond, Va. – Virginia watermen can now harvest additional resources to help replenish oyster stocks on private shellfish grounds through a longstanding collaboration between USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and two key aquaculture partners.
Over the past four years, the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) and Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC) have leveraged their extensive experience and resources with NRCS funding to help oyster farmers locate the best site(s) and shell sources for reef restoration on their leases. NRCS has provided $776,284 in financial assistance for 40 contracts with growers (14 in Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021) and just renewed the project to sustain this forward momentum.
“This improved approach to aquaculture is helping to support spat-on-shell production and a growing population of the bivalves, fish and other wildlife in areas that have remained fallow for years,” said NRCS State Conservationist Dr. Edwin Martinez Martinez. “We are proud to continue providing Virginia watermen with the financial and technical assistance they need to maintain successful operations while also supporting long-term improvements in Bay water quality.”
NRCS is making $260,000 available to growers in the final year of the original Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project. Interested individuals who receive services from the Accomac, Chesapeake, Gloucester, Quinton, Smithfield, Tappahannock and Warsaw NRCS service centers must submit a signed VMRC pre-approval form and complete an application with NRCS by March 18, 2022, to be considered for funding in Fiscal Year 2022.
“The Virginia oyster, Crassostrea virginica, is one of the most ecologically, economically and culturally important species in the Chesapeake Bay and its surrounding waters,” says Andrew Button, VMRC’s Deputy Chief of Shellfish Management. “The past success of this program resulted in millions more oysters in the Bay and many acres of oyster habitat being created. It is a perfect example of the good work that can be accomplished when private, state and federal partners come together, and we are excited about continuing to build on this success.”
Karen Hudson, VIMS’ shellfish aquaculture specialist, sees the program extension as “an excellent partnership opportunity for Virginia’s oyster producers to restore more acreage of oyster bottom for future harvests.”
RCPP matches a federal investment with state and private capital to advance natural resource conservation and support agricultural production. For more information on Virginia RCPP projects, visit the Virginia NRCS website.
To learn more about VMRC and VIMS shellfish aquaculture activities, visit www.mrc.virginia.gov/Shellfish_Aquaculture.shtm and www.vims.edu/research/units/labgroups/csalt/index.php.