(Matthew Busch for The Washington Post)Engineer Jeramy Morrow, left, and winchman Donnie Hanley watch the excavator operator build up one side of the reef project. Despite the many setbacks Texas oysters have faced in the past decade, enough adult oysters remain in the bays to naturally repopulate the new reefs. Texas represents a classic “if you build it, they will come” scenario, says Huffman, and she has the numbers to support that confidence. Scientists, fishermen, conservationists and policymakers may have different reasons for wanting more oyster reefs, Pollack noted, but they agree on the result. Just like on the artificial reefs the Nature Conservancy is building, baby oysters can attach to the recycled shell and grow.

Source: Washington Post May 25, 2019 20:26 UTC