**Summary of Maryland DNR and Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC)
Funded Research to Assist Preparation of Environmental Impact Statement
on Oyster Restoration Alternatives**

(Prepared by: Tom O'Connell, MD DNR, Fisheries Service)

Last Updated: June 16, 2004

**[1. Project Title]{.underline}: Development of a programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on oyster restoration
alternatives**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$300,000 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Maryland Environmental Service

[Investigators]{.underline}: Wayne Young, Kate Meade, Tammy Banta,
Michelle Griffin, Elizabeth Habic (MES)

[Objective]{.underline}: Assist the federal and state lead agencies in
planning, coordinating, and developing the programmatic EIS in
accordance with the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA).

**[2. Project Title]{.underline}: Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) in
support of a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to
evaluate alternative approaches to increasing oyster populations into
the Chesapeake Bay.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$299,611 (MD DNR)

[Lead Agency/Company]{.underline}: University of Maryland and Versar

[Investigators]{.underline}: Dr. Mary Christman (UMD), Jon Volstad
(Versar)

[Objective]{.underline}: Conduct an Ecological Risk Assessment
consistent with EPA ecological risk assessment guidelines, addressing
the proposed introduction of the Asian oyster, *Crassostrea ariakensis,*
into the Chesapeake Bay.

In order to conduct the risk assessment, demographic oyster population
models will be developed that can be used to predict population growth
of *Crassostrea ariakensis* and *Crassostrea virginica* within
Chesapeake Bay, both spatially and temporally, under all specified
oyster restoration alternatives specified by MD DNR/Norfolk COE. These
models would be used to estimate the probability of achieving the stated
goal of re-establishing a naturalized, reproducing, and self-sustaining
population of oysters, and of increasing biomass levels to 1970 levels
within a specified time period (e.g., by 2020). The model would also be
used to evaluate the likelihood of *C. ariakensis* becoming a nuisance
species within the Chesapeake Bay. The potential for the introduced *C.
ariakensis* to create fouling of water intakes throughout the Bay will
be evaluated in an associated effort under separate funding, but results
of that effort will be incorporated into the risk assessment.

**[3. Project Title]{.underline}: Economic component of an Environmental
Impact Statement for the proposed introduction of the oyster species,
*Crassostrea ariakensis*, into the tidal waters of Maryland and Virginia
to reestablish a naturalized, reproducing, and self-sustaining
population of oysters.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$52,122 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agencies]{.underline}: University of Maryland and
Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Doug Lipton (UMD), Jim Kirkley, and
Tom Murray (VIMS)

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Assess the economic benefits from commercial oyster fishery

    -   Determine the potential scale of the Chesapeake Bay oyster
        industry under different scenarios for the EIS proposal and
        alternatives.

    -   Discussion of the potential rents and consumer surplus for the
        EIS proposal and alternatives.

-   Assess the economic benefits to non-oyster commercial fisheries

    -   Develop overview of current commercial fisheries in Chesapeake
        Bay.

    -   Analysis of literature on water quality impacts on commercial
        fishing.

-   Assess the economic benefits to recreational (non-oyster) Chesapeake
    Bay fisheries

    -   Analysis of literature on the value of recreational fishing,
        particularly related to catch rate improvements and for
        Chesapeake Bay fisheries.

    -   Discussion and comparison of proposal and alternatives and their
        relative impacts on recreational fishing benefits.

-   Identify and analyze other benefits to water quality improvements.

    -   Analysis of literature related to benefits from water quality
        improvements such as property values, boaters, and non-use
        values.

    -   Analysis of potential cost-savings in reaching Chesapeake Bay
        water quality goals when oyster production is restored.

    -   Comparison of proposal and alternatives in regard to how they
        might affect other benefits from water quality improvements.

-   Identify and analyze potential economic harm from the EIS proposal
    and alternatives.

    -   Document known benefits of Chesapeake Bay resources and how
        these might be diminished by the EIS proposal or alternatives.

    -   Discussion (based on literature review) of diminished value, if
        any, due to willingness to pay to avoid any (or additional)
        non-native introductions into ecosystems.

**[4. Project Title]{.underline}: Research and development studies on
*Crassostrea ariakensis*.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$207,851 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Center of Marine Biotechnology,
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Yonathan Zohar and Gerardo Vasta

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Examine *in vitro* the virulence of various *Perkinsus*
    species/strains present in the Chesapeake Bay for *C. ariakensis*.

-   Investigate the virulence of selected parasite species (i.e.
    *Haplosporidium* spp. and *Bonamia* spp.) for *C. ariakensis* by
    experimental infection at the organismal level.

-   Assess the risk of viral pathogens in *Crassostrea ariakensis*.

**[5. Project Title]{.underline}: Modeling dispersal of *Crassostrea
ariakensis* oyster larvae in Chesapeake Bay**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$99,885 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: University of Maryland Center of
Environmental Studies

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Elizabeth North, Raleigh Hood, Ming
Li, and Tom Gross

[Objective]{.underline}: Determine the potential distance and rate of
*C. ariakensis* and *C. virginica* oyster larvae dispersal in Chesapeake
Bay using coupled hydrodynamic and larval transport models, and links to
population models.

**[6. Project Title]{.underline}: Behavioral responses of *Crassostrea
ariakensis* and *Crassostrea virginica* larvae to environmental change
under spatially realistic conditions.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$139,210 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: University of Maryland Center of
Environmental Studies

[Investigators]{.underline}: Roger Newell, Vic Kennedy, Don Meritt
(HPL); Joan L. Manuel (HPL Post-doctoral Investigator); Mark Luckenbach
and Roger Mann (VIMS)

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Determine in small chambers the behavioral responses of "D" and
    "umboned" stage *C. ariakensis* veliger larvae to gradients of
    salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen.

-   Use the results from these small scale experiments to determine the
    critical combinations of salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen
    for experiments with gradients developed over realistic water column
    depths. In these experiments, quantify larval behavior over the
    entire \~21 d larval development period from D stage to pediveliger.

-   Quantify settlement success (i.e., metamorphosis onto a substrate)
    for larvae subject to these various physical conditions.

-   Compare and contrast this with the response of *C. virginica* larvae
    exposed to the same experimental regimes.

**[7. Project Title]{.underline}: A population model for the oyster C.
ariakensis**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$50,000 (PRFC)

[Lead Research Agencies]{.underline}: Virginia Institute of Marine
Sciences

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Roger Mann and Juliana Harding

[Objective]{.underline}:

-   Develop a comprehensive description of growth (size versus age) for
    C.ariakensis in a variety of habitats corresponding to a range
    covering much of the Chesapeake Bay (and possibly further afield)
    using age versus length curves developed from examination of growth
    lines and bands in the resilium of the hinge region.

-   Use this age-based model as a foundation to incorporate data from
    sister studies on fecundity, larval biology, and recruitment into
    comprehensive comparative models.

**[8. Project Title]{.underline}: Evaluation of gametogenesis and
spawning cues for diploid *C. ariakensis* for estimation of
environmental risk and establishment of diploid brood stock
populations.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$150,547 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Virginia Institute of Marine
Sciences and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Stan Allen (VIMS) and Don Meritt
(UMCES)

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Estimate reproductive timing (in flow through quarantine) and
    fecundity for yearling diploid *C. ariakensis* under low and medium
    salinity regimes (York and Choptank Rivers).

-   Evaluation of cues eliciting spawning in ripe *C. ariakensis*
    diploids: temperature, salinity, and the combination.

-   Produce year class of diploid *C. ariakensis* in anticipation of
    (diploid) brood stock needs in future years.

-   Establishment of pond quarantine protocols for long-term maintenance
    of reproductively capable *C. ariakensis*.

**[9. Project Title]{.underline}: Susceptibility of *Crassostrea
ariakensis* to the oyster pathogen *Bonamia ostreae* and to *Bonamia*
sp. recently discovered in *C.* ariakensis in North Carolina.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$39,963 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Virginia Institute of Marine
Sciences

[Investigators]{.underline}: Dr. Eugene Burreson

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Determine if *C. ariakensis* is susceptible to *B. ostreae* in
    temperature and salinity conditions typical of Chesapeake Bay and
    the Mid-Atlantic open coast, and, if so, we will know whether the
    parasite causes mortality.

-   Determine if *Bonamia* sp. recently discovered in North Carolina
    causes mortality in *C. ariakensis,* and whether it can withstand
    temperature and salinity conditions typical of Chesapeake Bay.

**[10. Project Title]{.underline}: Behavior and substrate selection in
*C. ariakensis* pediveliger larvae in response to variation in
environmental condition.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$64,468 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Virginia Institute of Marine
Sciences

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Roger Mann (VIMS), Mario Tamburri
(CBL), and Denise Breitburg (SERC)

[Objectives]{.underline}:

> Determine how the behavior and substrate preference of pediveliger *C.
> ariakensis* at the time of settlement differs from or resembles that
> of *C. virginica.*

-   Examine behavior of *C. ariakensis* pediveligers under normoxic and
    hypoxic conditions.

-   Evaluate the effects of various substrates on *C. ariakensis*
    settlement and metamorphosis.

**[11. Project Title]{.underline}: Competitive interactions between
eastern and suminoe oyster from diploid larval settlement through to
development of reefs and the assessment of the habitat value of such
reefs.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$180,622 (\$130,479 \[MD DNR\] and \$50,143
\[PRFC\])

[Lead Research Agencies]{.underline}: University of Maryland Center of
Environmental Studies, Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences,
Smithsonian Environmental Resources Center, Cooperative Oxford
Laboratory

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Roger Newell (UMCES), Mark Luckenbach
(VIMS), and Denise Breitburg (SERC), and Chris Dungan (MD DNR Oxford
Lab)

[Objectives]{.underline}:

-   Examine the reef-building capabilities of *C. ariakensis* and
    determine the ecological interactions of *C. ariakensis* and *C.
    virginica* at all life stages from larval settlement through
    juvenile (\~9 month old individuals).

-   Determine the growth rate of diploid *C. ariakensis* under ambient
    temperature and salinity regimes typical of the upper Chesapeake
    Bay.

-   Determine susceptibility of diploid *C. ariakensis* to native
    parasites and pathogens under conditions characteristic of Maryland
    waters of Chesapeake Bay.

**[12. Project Title]{.underline}: Investigation of a *Crassostrea
ariakensis* reef in Laizhou Bay, China.**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$50,000 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Virginia Institute of Marine
Sciences

[Investigators]{.underline}: Drs. Mark Luckenbach (VIMS), Ken Paynter
(UMD), Junda Lin (FL Institute of Technology), Huayong Que (Chinese
Institute of Oceanography), and Chris Richardson (University of Wales)

[Objective]{.underline}: Obtain an improved understanding of *C.
ariakensis*' capacity to produce reefs under specific environmental
conditions and to relate these findings to the Chesapeake Bay.

-   Characterize the physical environment around the reef.

-   Map the reef using side-scan sonar and describe its morphology.

-   Obtain video imagery of the reef and associated organisms.

-   Determine the population and age structure of both oyster species on
    the reef.

-   Collect samples that will permit later determination of age-specific
    growth rate in *C. ariakensis* under differing salinity regimes.

-   Collect oyster tissue samples that can be later used for disease and
    genetic assays.

**[13. Project Title]{.underline}: Biology integrator Asian oyster power
plant intake fouling assessment**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$63,452 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Versar Inc.

[Investigators]{.underline}: Dr. Bill Richkus

[Objective]{.underline}: Assess the potential for the *C. ariakensis* to
result in fouling of water intakes of Maryland power plants that
withdraw cooling water from Chesapeake Bay waters.

**14. [Project Title]{.underline}: Cultural analysis for EIS on oyster
restoration alternatives**

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$37,571 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: University of Maryland, Department
of Anthropology

[Investigators]{.underline}: Dr. Michael Paolisso

[Objective]{.underline}: Prepare a socio/cultural assessment of the
proposed action and alternatives for the Environmental Impact Statement.

-   Identify cultural models for understanding proposed action and
    alternatives.

-   Identify cultural and socioeconomic implications of proposed action
    and alternatives for watermen communities.

-   Identify a strategy to address the potential effects to historical
    and archeological resources that may be impacted during the
    implementation of the proposed action (i.e. construction of oyster
    reefs).

-   Collaborate with Versar, MES, UMD and VIMS.

**15.** **Environmental tolerance studies on *Crassostrea ariakensis***

[Project Cost]{.underline}: \$34,114 (MD DNR)

[Lead Research Agency]{.underline}: Center of Marine Biotechnology,
University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute

[Investigators]{.underline}: Dr. Yonathan Zohar, Jennifer Carroll and
John Stubblefield

[Objectives]{.underline}: The basic biological questions that will be
addressed by this study are:

-   If dispersed as larvae, *C. ariakensis* may live and prosper within
    the Chesapeake Bay, but will it be able to disperse and propagate
    beyond the presumed biological barriers (temperature and salinity
    maximums and minimums) in the northern and southern reaches of the
    Bay?

-   Will *C. ariakensis* larvae fare better in certain regions of the
    Bay, based on their temperature and salinity tolerance?