Community-based Native Oyster Restoration In San Francisco Bay Presented Non 17, 2006 International Shellfish Restoration Conference Charleston, South Carolina FOR FURTHER INFO CONTACT: Marilyn Latta 510-452-9261 mlatta@saveSFbay.org My name is Marilyn Latta, and I am the Habitat Restoration Director for Save The Bay in San Francisco Bay, CA. I am glad to be here to learn from east coast oyster restoration efforts and share where we are at with native oyster restoration and monitoring in San Francisco Bay. The Save The Bay movement has been so successful because our founders mobilized real people- their friends, colleagues, and any Bay Area residents they could get to listen. We are continuing that tradition because we realize that without public education and community support we will never truly be able to Save The Bay. In this presentation I will highlight some components of successful community partnerships, and the many ways that volunteers are helping community-based native oyster restoration to get legitimate work done that advances restoration in the estuary. International Shellfish Restoration Conference November 15-18, 2006 Charleston, South Carolina www.saveSFbay.org

San Francisco Bay Watershed The Bay’s watershed covers 40% of California, nearly 60,000 square miles, including the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and its tributary rivers.

San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the west coast and the most urbanized estuary in the United States. Before the population boom of the Gold Rush, the Bay was a thriving estuarine habitat that supported hundreds of species, including Ostrea conchaphila. More than 40,000 acres of tidal wetlands and associated subtidal habitats have been acquired as public land. These large acquisitions are historic opportunities to bring back vast amounts of tidal salt marsh and subtidal habitat, but we have many budget shortfalls and large amounts of money that still needs to be raised to get this work done. Stewardship is one piece of the solution to leveraging local resources and creating more community support for these projects.

The Most Urbanized Estuary in the United States Largest Estuary on the West Coast Diversion of fresh water for farms and cities- 30 million people Diking and filling of marshes and mudflats- 90% loss Dredging for shipping channels and harbors Garbage dumps, sewage and toxic pollution Invasive species= 98% by biomass

Ostrea conchaphila populations were once abundant in San Francisco Bay Native American diet- large shellmounds found in South Bay Commercial harvest of natives: 1850’s-1890’s Alameda Richmond Point San Quentin Point Pinole Sausalito links to Willapa Bay oysters Jack London’s writings CA Fish and Game survey 1962 Large shell deposits in dredged channels 30-50’ deep Picture of oyster beds in early 1900’s

Before the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1800s, the Bay was bordered with extensive salt marshes, mudflats, and subtidal lands - ideal habitat for waterfowl, fish, and invertebrates. The native peoples were able to feed themselves quite easily from the bounty of oysters and other species from the rich estuary and Bay wetlands.

"Those are my oysters - that's what I said "Those are my oysters - that's what I said. You've stolen them from my beds!" "Now, in my experience," broke in the tall man, "oysters is oysters wherever you find 'em, an' they're pretty much alike all the Bay over, and the world over, too, for that matter.”

By the 1900’s, the oyster population had crashed due to Hydraulic Mining and pollution. Hydraulic gold mining in the Sierras washed huge amounts of debris downstream and into the Bay and Delta- smothering oysters and rocky hard substrates. Overharvesting began back in the Gold Rush- 49’ers loved their Hangtown Fry

Community Based Restoration: Based on Regional Goals Enhance Estuarine Habitats: Wetlands Creeks Islands/ Grasslands Salt Ponds Subtidal: Native Oysters Eelgrass Regional Agency Restoration Partnerships Involve schools, community groups, local volunteers, and corporations. Leverage Federal/ State/ Local Funding Save The Bay’s community-based restoration program is engaging individuals and communities as local, hands-on Bay stewards at multiple sites in our Estuary. Save The Bay built our program directly from the recommendations outlined in the Habitat Goals Report, and we work with a wide variety of regulatory and conservation organizations. Our goal is to make science and restoration accessible to the general public, and assist public agencies in advancing restoration projects on their land by engaging the greatest resource we have in an urbanized area- thousands of eager volunteers. Our trained field educators are able to take complex issues such as the non-native cordgrass invasions and explain it to our student and community volunteers in language that they can understand. San Francisco Bay is the most studied estuary in the world, but there still exists a real disconnect between the cutting-edge information that scientists and resource agency staff are generating, and the residents whose actions could make a profound positive difference if they only understood the issues.

With NOAA Restoration Center support in 2001, Save The Bay began shell string monitoring at five sites in the Bay. Academic and Agency Partnerships Five Monitoring Sites Volunteer Training Public Education and Outreach Spat settlement!

Training Community Volunteers to Collect Basic Data

Key Lessons Learned Layperson Volunteers can be trained to monitor Ostrea conchaphila Regional study areas help to compare site characteristics and reach more volunteers around the Bay Community really liked getting connected to science- current, hands-on academic research Initial recruitment on this small project generated a lot of support for oysters Consensus needed on regional priorities and goals for oyster restoration

Oyster Volunteers What Does It Take? Volunteers are like Spat! Potentially millions to involve Not all settle successfully Some survive longer than others Seasonal pulses can drive availability

Most Common Volunteer Questions When can we eat them?! If factors causing oyster decline don’t get solved, will restoration work? If introduced species are already filtering too much plankton from the Bay, isn’t it bad to encourage more oysters? If the Bay has pollutants, won’t the oysters get sick? We combine agency management, technical consultant advice, and community volunteers in a well- planned overall restoration project model. Under guidance from our site partners, we are able to effectively train layperson volunteers to do needed work that would not happen otherwise without the involvement of stewards.

Additional Oyster Projects Tomales Bay (2001-03) Ted Grosholz, UC Davis Richardson Bay (2002-03) Mike McGowan, Holly Harris Marin, Bair Island (2003-06) Bud Abbott, Rena Obernolte, Brian Mulvey UC Davis (2006-07) Ted Grosholz, Chela Zabin, Rena Obernolte

Marin Rod and Gun Club Oyster Reefs

Save The Bay’s 06-07 Study Comparing oyster recruitment at six sites: Permanente Creek, Mountain View Palo Alto Baylands, Palo Alto Ravenswood Pier, E. Palo Alto Oyster Point, So. San Francisco Berkeley Marina, Berkeley San Rafael Canal, San Rafael Comparing settlement surfaces: Shell strings Shell bags PVC plates Existing substrate 5 monthly replicates, 5 year-long replicates

All of these projects have generated lots of Media Interest San Francisco Chronicle San Jose Mercury News Marin Independent Journal San Mateo County Times ABC 7 National Public Radio

Truly Collaborative Partnerships MacTec Kleinfelder Drakes Bay Oysters Institute for Fisheries Resources FishAmerica Foundation And many others Public/ Private Partnerships are the backbone of our work. We have found that there is strong interest by the general public in getting involved with their Bay, and that if you provide opportunities for people to participate in stewardship, they will. Almost 30,000 people have participated with our program in just five years, totaling more than 120,000 hours of volunteer time towards resource stewardship. This is the equivilant of 60 full-time staff working for a year! Key support for all of these projects has come from the NOAA Restoration Center

Why it Works We are addressing real habitat needs for native oysters. Restoration is based on sound science and strong agency partnerships. Diverse groups share information and work together. We are building a broad community coalition for restoration. We leverage funding and resources through public/ private partnerships. With strong planning and sound science these stewardship programs make a huge difference. Bay-wide, we need a structural change to get citizens and regional restoration projects more integrated. Project budgets should include money to fund volunteer coordinators with local organizations, close to project sites, to carry out monitoring and appropriate volunteer restoration work from the very outset, and even before major construction work. Permits should carry these requirements, as well.

For More Information Contact Habitat Restoration Director Thank You! www.saveSFbay.org For More Information Contact Marilyn Latta Habitat Restoration Director Save The Bay 510-452-9261 x110 mlatta@savesfbay.org You can learn more about all of these projects at Save The Bay’s web site, www.saveSFbay.org. If you would like more information about how to start a community-based restoration program in your area, or if you would like to partner with us, please feel free to contact me at Save The Bay. Thank you very much.