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

Creating oyster-reef-based living shorelines remains a globally popular nature-based solution for reducing coastal erosion and enhancing coastline resilience. Understanding oyster population development and habitat support of nekton will help inform the design, site selection, and quantify co-benefits of living shorelines.With some of the highest land loss rates globally, the state of Louisiana has invested in large-scale restoration, including creation of the largest oyster-reef based shoreline in the world. This 14 km long living shoreline was designed to protect critical marsh habitat serving to protect more interior marshes. The success of such a project relies on the development of sustainable oyster populations, and its value as complex habitat serving as nursery habitat. Working with state restoration agency, Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana, a ten year monitoring plan was designed to monitor the development and effectiveness of this living shoreline. ​Tracking the ​development ​and dynamics of oyster populations on the reefs will help in predicting the sustainability of this project over the long-term; quantifying fisheries use of the reef and linking these data with ​oyster reef populations and reef complexity inform future design of such projects.