Arlie Gardens

Description

The North Carolina Coastal Federation partnered with staff and volunteers from Airlie Gardens, the surrounding communities and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service to restore 4,000 square feet of oyster reef habitat and 4,000 square feet of coastal marsh habitat along 400 feet of Airlie Gardens shoreline on Bradley Creek.

Technical Details

800 oyster shell bags were placed as a 10-foot-wide, low profile oyster blanket reef along 400 feet of intertidal estuarine shoreline. Each oyster shell reef blanket measured 10 feet by 20 feet, with approximately 20 feet of intertidal inter-reef fisheries habitat left between each reef blanket. Other details of the project include:

An additional 400 oyster shell bags were created for the remote setting and reef seeding operation

About 15,000 bushels of shell spread among two to four sites to create 3 acres of shallow subtidal and intertidal oyster reefs.

Planting of about 1,000 Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) seedlings for restoration purposes.

Funding

Airlie Environmental Education, NOAA Restoration Center, J&B Aquafood, UNCW, North Carolina Natural Estuarine Research Reserve, North Carolina Coastal Federation, N.C. Department of Marine Fisheries.