The East Hampton Town Trustees heard and approved a request by South Fork Sea Farmers, a nonprofit educational arm of the town’s shellfish hatchery and its community oyster garden program, to implement a program aiming to establish eelgrass meadows in Accabonac Harbor.
Bob Tymann, head of the education committee for South Fork Sea Farmers, under whose guidance students have constructed the oyster reefs, introduced Henry Cooper, an East Hampton High School student, who outlined a plan to transplant 20 to 25 shovelfuls of eelgrass from Napeague Harbor to Accabonac Harbor adjacent to previously constructed oyster reefs. The plan calls for biodegradable, three-dimensional lattice sheets called BESE-elements (or Biodegradable Elements for Starting Ecosystems) to be affixed to the sea floor with biodegradable bamboo stakes. Two rows of the BESE sheets will be placed shoreside of two of the three existing oyster reefs in the harbor.
Transplants with one or two runners will be centered in each sheet, the BESE sheets stabilizing the runners and mimicking dense patches of stiff stems that reduce movement. This, Henry said, will enhance transplant yields. “They need time to grow a meadow, which is the purpose of this.”
The project will evaluate the effectiveness of BESE sheets in stabilizing the sediment, track the survival and growth of the transplanted eelgrass, and monitor for evidence of introduction of new oysters. “If there’s a thriving meadow, it should bring more biodiversity to the oyster reef,” Henry told the trustees. “We’re also going to document the site conditions that may influence the restoration process, like turbidity, pH levels.”
From six months to two years after the transplant, the survival rate will continue to be tracked, and the sites will be monitored for new shoot emergence and degradation of the BESE sheets. “Around two to three years, we’re going to look at what happened over time,” Henry said. “We’re predicting that it’s going to be successful.” Salinity and dissolved oxygen levels will be measured.
Fixed photo stations will document before-and-after comparisons, Henry told the trustees, and a drone will allow more perspective on how the area has responded to the project.
Success will be defined as 60-percent survival of the transplanted eelgrass, he said. The project additionally aims to effect a 20-percent increase in shoot density. “We’re also looking for soil stability, minimal sediment loss,” demonstrating mitigation of erosion, Henry said.
Biannual summary reports with graphs and image comparisons will be prepared. “Finally, we’re going to adjust management practices as needed.” The work is anticipated to happen next month, he said.
John Aldred of the trustees asked that he provide an annual report to the trustees, who own and manage many of the town’s waterways and bottomlands on behalf of the public, before the trustees voted unanimously to approve the project.
