Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Louisiana
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Along the coast of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, plays important ecological and economic roles. Commercial landings from this region account for more than 50% of all U.S. landings; these oyster reefs also provide varied ecosystem services including nursery habitat for many fish and macroinvertebrate species, shoreline protection, and water quality maintenance. Declining trends in both total oyster production and functional reef area across this area have spurred investment in restoration of oyster resources, with specific calls for restoration projects to develop a network of reefs, identifying broodstock and sanctuary reef restoration sites, specifically. Numerous efforts related to oyster reefs exist in identifying sites for restoration, and location of broodstock sanctuaries. Along with PEW Charitable Trusts, this project created a database and summary of existing models that can be used to inform oyster restoration. This review provides a complete overview of oyster modeling in the Gulf of Mexico, identifying the tools available, and the gaps related to informing oyster restoration.