More than two million native oysters have settled on the Coastal Conservancy’s Living Shoreline Reefs in San Francisco Bay!

Native oyster and eelgrass reefs were constructed in summer 2012 at a site owned by The Nature Conservancy along the San Rafael shoreline in San Francisco Bay.  The goal of this exciting new project is to establish healthy habitat for many species, and test innovative new techniques to protect and buffer shorelines in the face of sea level rise and other climate changes.

Native oyster and eelgrass reefs were constructed in summer 2012 at a site owned by The Nature Conservancy along the San Rafael shoreline in San Francisco Bay.  The goal of this exciting new project is to establish healthy habitat for many species, and test innovative new techniques to protect and buffer shorelines in the face of sea level rise and other climate changes.  The project team including San Francisco State University, UC Davis, USGS, ESA PWA and many others have been monitoring the reefs to evaluate oyster and eelgrass success, use by fish, birds, and invertebrates, and physical benefits.  The native oysters are shoulder to shoulder out there, eelgrass is establishing well, and crabs, shrimp, birds, white sturgeon and many other species are using the reefs.  The reefs also reduce wave energy by 30-50% at certain water levels, and monitoring will be ongoing.  Visit the project website at www.sfbaylivingshorelines.org to see the full project description and list of partners.