Seawall Oyster Reefs

Littoral Shoreline Restoration Habitat

1989 Seawall Oyster Reef Monitoring Project   Ongoing Seawall Reef-oyster-sediment-red mangrove study since 1989 at Bay Chop Villa. 

Restoration of shoreline habitat in front of bulkhead areas with

oysters and red mangroves repairs the edge habitats for upland

and marine species lost by dredge and fill operations.

Where oysters stop growing upward is called the MHW line

(mean high water) and separates upland vegetation

(mangroves and spartina) from underwater seagrasses.

There are 3 types of mangroves...red, white, and black. The red

mangroves (their roots look like spider leg walking trees)

are unique because as trees mature to adult trees

they walk to the MLW (mean low water) line.

Oysters then grow on their roots creating the habitat

for fish and wading birds. This shallow area

where land meets the water is called littoral zone. 

An oyster bed is unique because its mass grows upward

until reaching MHW and footprint enlarge through a

process called WAR (wave action rocking) factor.

Gus Muench

Promising Environmental Project Coming to ApolloBeach

By Melody Jameson

— A pilot habitat project that may raise survival odds for valued marine

life while enhancing human environments is coming to this bustling

suburban community. The project funded by two Tampa Bay agencies seeks

to demonstrate that once-bare seawall sites can be restored to natural

habitat for numerous swimming and flying species without eliminating the

structure, using man-made reef starter. And local residents are being

invited to participate in the demonstration program holding promise for

widespread positive environmental impacts.

The study endeavor, officially known as the South Shore Intertidal

Habitat Project, has been funded by $12,500 in grants from the Tampa

Bay Estuary Program and the Tampa Bay Port Authority, according to its

director, Gus Muench, a Ruskin-based marine conservationist.

Specific objectives of the study include determining feasibility of seawall

reefs for habitat in waterfront community canals, salinity ranges in canals

and community-based education to introduce importance of oyster

ecosystems. The two-part project is expected to span two years, Muench

said. Working with Muench, as project coordinators and technical 

advisors, are Dr. Ann Hodgson of  Apollo Beach , a wildlife ecologist,

Robin Lewis of Salt Springs, Florida , who now heads an environmental

services firm, and Ann Paul of Tampa , acting manager of coastal island

sanctuaries in Florida waters for Audubon of Florida.

Essentially, the Apollo Beach project consists of securing light-weight,

highly portable reef skeletons constructed of man-made material that

become the framework for reef development at barren seawalls which line

the waterfront community's numerous canals where there is no underwater

littoral shelf to support plant and marine life, Muench explained.

Over a period of months, it is believed that the reef skeletons secured

below the waterline will attract algae and other tiny marine organisms as

well as oysters which attach to and accumulate on the framework. The

natural water intake/output action of the oysters, in turn, coats the

gradually growing reef with silt that, in turn, attracts fish, some of which

support water fowl, the director said. Eventually, he added, the growing

natural reef with a man-made core is expected to become rooting material

for mangrove stands which encourage even more abundant sea life of

several types.

The seawall oyster reef is considered a potential alternative for use of

limerock rip rap as bulkhead habitat. Apollo Beach is ideally suited to the

demonstration project's requirements because of the salinity level of the

brackish water in the canal systems, Muench said. However, not all

residential properties fronting on the canals are ideal for the pilot

program, he added. "We're looking for 50 to 60 homeowners whose canal

front properties have seawalls that are bare to serve as sites for reef

installations," the program director stated. The underwater reef skeletons

are secured at the vacant seawall sites with steel rods and require about

30 minutes each for installation. The created reefs can be destroyed by

removing the core from the site, Muench indicated, but in most instances

they are expected to become permanent fixtures along the canal seawalls

where they are sited. The reef core made of a safe poly material in a

screen-like format weighs about nine pounds when constructed but once it

begins to accumulate oyster shell and silt it can attain a weight of some 90

pounds before plant life takes root in it, he said.

Muench, a Tampa native and lifelong fisherman who built a home on the

south shore of the Little Manatee River after a telephone company career,

began experimenting with reef designs in the mid-1980s. Over the years,

his efforts have evolved into an oyster-based concept using polyethylene

mesh cylinders lashed together to form a light weight, durable but uneven

surface that marine life easily can move in and out of or rest in or

colonize as the reef takes shape and grows. "I'm convinced," he asserted

"that we can transform and return many of the dredged canals lined with

concrete seawalls along our coastlines to the natural habitat needed by all

sorts of marine and waterway wildlife. And I think we can demonstrate it

in Apollo Beach ." In addition, he pointed out that man as well as wildlife

benefit from such restoration. Enhanced and increased habitat means more

and more varied fish, more active bird populations and more attractive,

natural looking shorelines, he said. What's more, oyster populations filter

water, removing some pollutants, and one of the state's bird species of

concern — the American Oyster Catcher — feeds on the bivalve.

In addition, AB homeowners participating in the pilot project could

become eligible for cash awards under the Habitat Diamond Awards

program Muench established in 2004.

To obtain information and to become involved in the demonstration project

as a homeowner with a seawall or as a volunteer, Muench asked that

Reef beginning Sept 1989

Ron Schmeid NMFS

Same location Feb. 2006

4" high red mangrove reefs