Below are links to information pertaining to the October 18, 2007 meeting of the Oyster Advisory Commission, the agenda follows along with individual presentations when available:
Final summary of the October 18th OAC meeting.
Strategic Planning Exercise
Minutes of a June 5, 2007 meeting relating to oyster disease issues. The meeting was held at the Potomac River Fisheries Commission, Colonial Beach, VA.
Cerco C. F., M. R. Noel. 2005. Evaluating Ecosystem Effects of Oyster Restoration in Chesapeake Bay. A Report to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, September 2005.
An Evaluation of the MD Oyster Sanctuaries Monitored by the MD DNR Shellfish Program's Fall Survey. (March, 2005). Prepared by Mitchell Tarnowski, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Shellfish Program.
Response to OAP Peer Review of Demographic Model.doc (267.0 KB)
OAP peer review of Demographic Model.doc (75.0 KB bytes)
Demographic Model of Oyster Populations 10-4-07.doc (5.412 MB)
"Oyster Host and Oyster Parasites" (APPENDIX 1, Maryland DNR 2007)
Strategic Planning Questions and Response Summary
Meeting Information:
Location: University of Maryland, Center of Environmental Sciences (UMCES), Horn Point Laboratory, Aquaculture and Restoration Ecology Laboratory (AREL) located just outside of Cambridge, in Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Directions: From the western shore, go east on Rt. 50/301 to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Once on the Eastern shore, stay on Rt. 50 to Cambridge, MD, crossing the Choptank River on the Frederick Malkus Bridge. After the bridge, go to 3rd stop light and turn right. Go one block and turn right again onto Washington St. (Rt. 343). Stay on this road for about 3.5 miles. Look for the UMCES sign on the right side of the road. Bear right on Horn Point Rd. Continue for about 1.5 miles. The entrance to the lab is flanked by two statues of sheep. The AREL building is on the left. A map of the campus can be found at: www.hpl.umces.edu/visitorsInfo/hpel.htm
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. followed by a light dinner/social for Commission members.
Agenda:
10:00 am Welcome to UMCES Facility (Don Boesch)
10:05 am Opening Remarks and Meeting Objectives (Bill Eichbaum)
10:10 am Approve Agenda and OAC's September 17, 2007 Meeting Summary (Bill Eichbaum)
10:15 am Public Comments
10:30 am Presentations on the current state of knowledge on the key issues identified from the SWOT analysis conducted at the 9/17 OAC meeting
1) Ecosystem services provided by oysters (Ken Paynter, UMD)
Questions:
- Why is oyster restoration a critical component to restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay?
- What ecological services do oysters provide?
- What are the characteristics of a restored and ecologically functional oyster reef? This should facilitate discussions on what can and can not occur if we want to restore the functional role of oyster reefs.
Ken Paynter's Presentation, in pdf format (2.5 MB).
Link to movie of barren bottom http://www.life.umd.edu/biology/paynterlab/labpub/OAC07b/barrenbottom.mov. Internet browser will need to be Quick Time enabled.
Link to movie of shell bottom http://www.life.umd.edu/biology/paynterlab/labpub/OAC07b/ShellBottom.mov. Internet browser will need to be Quick Time enabled.
2) History and results of Maryland's oyster sanctuary program (Chris Judy, MDNR)
Questions:
- What was the process for identifying sanctuary areas?
- What restoration activities have occurred in sanctuaries?
- What are the results to date on the sanctuary program?
- What factors attributed to each site's success or failure?
Chris Judy's Presentation, in pdf format (4.9 MB).
3) Vital population rate (growth, survival, recruitment) estimates for native oysters and results from a demographic model developed to evaluate three native oyster restoration alternatives (continue restoration at current levels, expand restoration efforts, and implement a temporary harvest moratorium) for the Oyster EIS (Ed Weber, Versar, Inc.)
Questions:
- What are the current natural mortality, growth and reproductive rates, and how do these compare to the pre-disease period and periods of higher oyster density/abundance?
- What are the most limiting factors to increasing oyster abundance in low, moderate and high salinity regions?
- What is the effect of fishing mortality, and projected results of a temporary harvest moratorium?
- What is the projected results of status quo and expanded native oyster restoration efforts?
- What is presently limiting recruitment?
Ed Weber's Presentation, in pdf format (1.8 MB).
4) Overview of oyster disease issues and management strategies (Chris Dungan, MDNR, Cooperative Oxford Laboratory)
Questions:
- What current oyster disease management strategies in the 2005 Chesapeake Bay Program Oyster Management Plan are working and not working?
- What are the most effective disease management strategies?
- Are there new strategies that should be considered?
- What role, if any, can selectively bred disease resistant native oysters play in a restoration program?
- Is natural disease resistance occurring, if so, at what spatial and temporal scale? Are there strategies to facilitate natural disease resistance? Are there strategies impeding natural disease resistance?
Chris Dungan's Presentation, in pdf format (934 KB).
5) Condition of oyster bar habitat and shell budget issues (Roger Mann, VIMS)
Questions:
- What is the condition of Chesapeake Bay oyster bars?
- What are the factors attributing to their degradation?
- What is the rate of shell loss (shell budget issue)?
Roger Mann's Presentation, in pdf format (34 KB).
1:30 pm Lunch will be provided to OAC members and presenters
2:00 pm Tour of Oyster Hatchery (UMCES)
2:45 pm Keynote speaker (Tom Horton)
3:00 pm Strategic Planning Exercise - Break-out into groups to discuss issues and identify potential strategies for achieving desired biological/ecological objectives. The groups will be asked to focus on the following questions:
- What are the five most important things we could do to increase the ecological services provided by oysters in the Chesapeake Bay?
- If we were going to invest in oyster restoration, where would you go and what management/restoration techniques would you implement to maximize the ecological benefits of this investment.
4:30 pm Review results of strategic planning exercise and identify preliminary recommendations to achieve biological/ecological objectives (OAC)
5:30 pm Confirm dates and focus of next OAC meetings (Bill Eichbaum)
- November 15th from 10 am - 6 pm (location TBD)
- Focus on the oyster industry and socio-economics (ecological and industry)
- December 20th from 10 am - 6 pm (location TBD)
- Focus on developing the agreed upon strawman Chesapeake Bay oyster management model for the 21st century (that focuses on both the biology and ecological benefits of oysters and economics benefits of an oyster industry), and the report to the Governor and General Assembly that is due on 12/31/07.
5:45 pm Public Comment
5:55 pm Meeting Summary (Bill Eichbaum)
6:00 pm Adjourn
6:15 pm Light Dinner / Social for OAC Members and Presenters
