Corals Meet Oysters: The Optimum Geometric and Chemical Design for Restoration

Worldwide coral reefs and oyster bars are under attack by human generated chemical and physical parameters, ranging from ocean acidification and pollution to tourism and overharvesting. In order to bring back these reefs and bars, a technique that can be scaled up is needed. Current techniques for corals such micro-fragmentation have shown some promise to rejuvenate coral populations but the ability to scale up for a large application are not promising at this point. Oyster restoration now often includes recycle oyster shells from restaurants, cleaning them, placing in perforated plastic bags and deploying them. This approach works on a small scale but has little chance of being scaled up to work along the entire Chesapeake Bay or the Southern coast of Louisiana. At VSU we have developed a material called NEC or Nutrient Enriched Concrete as an economical and green approach for coral and oyster restoration. This presentation will outline current designs for the coast of Georgia and north Florida for oysters and the Florida Keys for corals