What’s Living on Living Shorelines?

Monitoring a Hybrid Living Shoreline Project in Delaware Bay

J. Paterno1, L. Calvo1, D. Bushek1, M. Katkowski2

1 Rutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory 

2 The Nature Conservancy

Project Benefits•Reduces current erosion rate and storm damage and improves ecosystem

connectivity•Increases protective capacity to buffer adjacent uplands•Restores and enhances habitat for migratory birds, fish, near-shore marine species

and provides nursery habitats for commercial and recreational fish and shellfish•Provides suitable oyster habitat to promote the growth of oyster reefs•Improves near-shore water quality

The project is supported by federal funding from the Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Act.

Gandy’s Beach Shoreline Protection Project

Conservation Goals•Restore salt marsh and adjacent uplands•Improve natural coastal defenses against future storms

Shell bag breakwaters Oyster Castles®

Nantuxent Creek, Money Island NJDowne Township

Finfish and Mobile Invertebrate Monitoring

Pre‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2015

Post‐installation monitoring: July‐October 2016

Species Common Name Pre‐installationJuly‐October 2015

Post‐installationJuly‐October 2016

Paleomonetes spp. grass shrimp 1230 1234Callinectes sapidus blue crab 612 361Fundulus heterclitus mummichog 158 68Menidia menidia Atlantic silverside 184 15Gobiosoma bosci naked goby 87 54Bairdiella chrysoura silver perch 110 8Penaeus aztecus brown shrimp 3 67Crangon septemspinosa sand shrimp 29 15Anchoa mitchili bay anchovy 8 30Fundulus majalis striped killifish 32 6Opsanus tau oyster toadfish 4 25Rhithropanopeus harrisii estuarine mud crab 2 12Anguilla rostrata American eel 7 5Cynoscion regalis weakfish 3 4Micropogonias undulatus Atlantic croaker 7 0Paralichthys dentatus summer flounder 5 2Pogonias cromis black drum 3 1Panopeus herbstii Atlantic mud crab 3 0Limulus polyphemus horseshoe crab 0 2Trinectes maculatus hog choker 0 2Centropristis striata black sea bass 0 2Gobiesox strumosus skilletfish 0 1Cyprinodon variegatus sheepshead minnow 1 0Morone americana white perch 1 0

Total number of species                                               20                              20

0

5

10

15

20

25

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Cummulative Num

ber o

f Spe

cies Collected

Number of Net Deployments

Species Accumulation

Pre‐installation

Post‐installation

2015 2016Shannon H' 1.542 1.270Simpson index of diversity 1‐D 0.683 0.545

Species Diversity

0

2

4

6

8

10

2015 2016

Species R

ichn

ess

Year

Mean Species Richness Per Sample

Oyster Recruitment Monitoring

Random Sampling Design

• Four transect lines placed at randomly selected locations perpendicular to structure 

• Three quadrat center points are identified at random locations along each transect line

• Twelve, 10x10 cm quadrats examined per reef structure

In each quadrat:• Counted all oysters• Measured five oysters• Counted ribbed 

mussels• Estimated percent 

cover of fouling organisms (barnacles, algae, tunicates etc.)

0

5

10

15

20

1 2 3 4 5Average Num

ber o

f Oysters per 

Qua

drat

Castle Deck

Oyster Abundance: Gandy’s Beach 

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65

Freq

uency

Shell Height Bin (mm)

Oyster Size Frequency

Shell BagsCastles

Trends• Densities of spat in Nantuxent Creek were greater than on Gandy’s Beach (p=0.007)

• Recruitment was similar across all castle decks on Gandy’s Beach, except for deck 5 (p=0.0497)

• Excluding reefs built in November 2016, reef installation date over a 1 year period did not cause significant differences in recruitment on structures (p=0.686)

• However, installation date did have a significant relationship with oyster size (p<0.0005)

Comparisons to Other Constructed Intertidal Reefs:

Location Avg. spat density (‐m2)

Substrate Source

York River,Chesapeake Bay, VA

440 Oyster Castles® Theuerkauf, Burke, Lipcius(2014)

Mobile Bay, Alabama 700 Loose oyster shell

Schulte, Burke, Lipcius(2009)

Cape Shore Region, Delaware Bay, NJ

2,200‐4,200 Shell bags Taylor & Bushek (2008)

Gandy’s Beach, Delaware Bay, NJ*

1,050‐1,600 Oyster Castles® Paterno, Calvo, Bushek(2017)Unpublished

Gandy’s Beach, Delaware Bay, NJ*

260‐2,460 Shell bags Paterno, Calvo, Bushek(2017)Unpublished

* Densities are recruitment after one spawning season and do not account for winter mortality.

2014-2015

Field Observation: Multi-species shellfish habitat

Project Partners

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Bureau of Coastal Engineering

The Nature ConservancyDowne TownshipCumberland CountyThe Partnership for the Delaware EstuaryRutgers University, Haskin Shellfish Research LabParticipating Schools in Cumberland, Atlantic, Salem and Cape May Counties

0

5

10

15

20

25

1 2 3 4

Aver

age

Num

ber

of O

Yste

rs p

er

Qua

drat

Deck

Oyster Abundance: Nantuxent Creek

Shell bagLSB1LSB2LSB3LSB4SSB4SSB5SSB6SSB7SSB8SSB9SSB10SSB11SSB12AB

Total oys107443.1623176.9822746.874843.34

21684.1035877.8818973.4423074.8417848.4222147.8221215.4131582.5724037.826518.692579.61

oys/m22467850583267

1442187510751292942

1192825

11671050333142

383750.94

CastleL6L7L8L9S13S14S15S16L19L20L21L22S2S3LG2LG4SM1SM2SM3

Total # spat/ reef

5705062592

31176

3123437258439512833438906

245923841029465

2441323169418966336579

487952

oys/m2145816001092156711671392164210581208800

15921292

16421558130020582042

873,000 total oysters

Harvested Bed(Nantuxent): Delaware Bay, NJ

24 oysters/m2

(Avg. over 5 years)Oyster reef Alcox, Bushek, Morson,

Munroe (2016)