On July 14, I had the pleasure of working with Damon Moore from Oyster River Ecology (ORE) and a film crew from the Ringling College digital filmmaking program to document and install 1,050 vertical oyster garden anchors (VOGAs) on ORE’s restoration aquaculture lease site known as the Eileen Reef in the upper Manatee River. This 10-acre site is the beginning of an effort to bring bivalve restoration to a scale that can noticeably clean local waters. The following is the schedule that Moore set up for the day’s effort.
• 7 a.m. – ORE boat only; tow VOGAs on work floats over to Eileen Reef from Colony Cove staging area (staged the day before).
• 8:30 a.m. – Make final go or no go call on the weather. (The weather was perfect!)
• 9:30 a.m. – Everyone:
– Arrive at Fort Hamer Boat Ramp;
– Confirm participants have signed waivers;
– Safety meeting/questions/etc.
• 10 a.m. – All boats depart Fort Hamer Boat Ramp for Eileen Reef
• 10:30 a.m.
– Arrive at Eileen Reef and anchor boats at the staked-out area.
– Provide task instructions
• 11 a.m. – Work as a team to install 1,050 VOGAs within the marked area.
• 12:30 p.m. – Complete installation and enjoy snacks/drinks/lunch. Please bring your own.
• 1 p.m. – Depart Eileen Reef for Fort Hamer Boat Ramp. ORE boat to return work floats and empty bins to Colony Cove staging area then return to Fort Hamer Boat Ramp.
• 1:30 p.m. – Arrive at Fort Hamer Boat Ramp and group dismiss.
• 3-4 p.m. – Damon to retrieve the cargo trailer and floats from the Colony Cove staging area.
Vessels used in the project included ORE’s 18.4 coastal skiff, which was used to tow the work floats with VOGAs to the site, the Suncoast Waterkeeper (SCWK) patrol boat with board members Rob Brown and Orion Morton, which carried the camera crew, their equipment and several volunteers, and Mike Elswick, who brought a boat with SCUBAnauts volunteers.
The planting was a huge success, and everyone was impressed with the speed with which volunteers worked.
