| SCORE was begun in 2000 and now has more than 1,200 volunteers, who have spent 6,300 hours bagging shell and building and monitoring over 80 oyster reefs. |
It is not the typical role of scientists to manage a huge roster of volunteers, but researchers in South Carolina have developed a community-based program that not only increases oyster habitat at a minimum expense to taxpayers, but also expands research opportunities.
Increased public awareness and support are added bonuses of the South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement (SCORE) program, says Loren Coen, associate marine scientist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources' Marine Resources Research Institute.
SCORE was begun in 2000 and now has more than 1,200 volunteers, who have spent 6,300 hours bagging shell and building and monitoring over 80 oyster reefs at 25 sites along about 200 miles of South Carolina's shoreline.
Researchers are using the reefs to study a variety of approaches and environmental impacts to improve how the state agency builds and restores larger habitats.
"We are utilizing our reefs to learn something about restoration," Coen says. "Above and beyond that, we are creating ambassadors out in the community who are helping keep up public interest and state funds flowing."
Coen and two program staff members use a Web site and an e-mail database to coordinate volunteers who take part invarious aspects of the lengthy restoration process.
During the winter, volunteersare encouraged to collect shells from oyster roasts, restaurants, and caterers. While oyster shell is considered the best material for building oyster reefs, it often ends up in landfills, or is used for driveways or other decorative purposes. With many restoration efforts along the east and gulf coasts, it is getting harder to purchase oyster shells, and the cost often is prohibitive.
Many of SCORE's volunteers participate in the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Shell Recycling Program. Twelve drop-off sites have been established throughout the state for recycling of shell throughout the year.
The shells must sit for two months to ensure that no organic tissue remains before volunteers put the recycled and purchased shell into thousands of mesh-net bags that are about two-feet long and weigh 25 to 35 pounds each.
The bags are used to build reefs at sites scientists and regulators have carefully selected. Coen says that sites should have a gentle slope, some existing shell or a somewhat firm substrate, and be in an area that does not have too much sedimentation or boat traffic.
Sites are accessible without a boat to make it easier for volunteers to conduct weekly to monthly water-quality monitoring and related reef evaluations. So far, monitoring is showing that 22 of 25 sites are thriving.
SCORE is so successful, Coen says, that they are helping groups in Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina develop similar programs.
"I really feel this program is going well," Coen says. "The hardest thing for all the scientists here in our department and agency has been taking on the role of involving community groups and educating the public. That's not the typical role of a scientist. But without the volunteers, the program wouldn't exist."
For more information on SCORE, point your browser to www3.csc.noaa.gov/scoysters/. You may also contact Nancy Hadley at (843) 953-9841 or Michael Hodges at (843) 953-9241, or hodgesm@mrd.dnr.state.sc.us. For more information on related research, contact Loren Coen at (843) 953-9152.
