2020-07-07 P&E Agenda - Item 3 - Attachment 1 - TNC Project Management Plan

The project follows the MER principles of the international Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), the Open
Standards for the Practice of Conservation (OSPC) and best practice methods for shellfish ecosystem restoration.
This includes establishing project targets, goals and objectives and using a reference ecosystem, or reference
model, as a predefined ecological target. Reporting of project indicators includes both reporting of trends towards
an ecological trajectory and standard project inputs and outputs (e.g. oysters deployed, m 2 of habitat provided).

The execution of this Plan will enable project partners and funding bodies to determine whether the project is
successful in achieving predefined environmental, social and economic targets. By monitoring a common set of
ecological indicators, we will also be able to compare these results with other restoration projects in Australia and
globally.

Introduction
Shellfish ecosystems, which are created predominately by the rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata), and native flat
oyster (Ostrea angasi), were historically extensive along the coastline of southern and eastern Australia. Since
European arrival, these bivalve ecosystems have declined in extent and condition largely as a result of
unsustainable fishing methods which removed much of the shellfish ecosystem structure12. This loss was further
aggravated by a decline in water quality, sedimentation of bays and estuaries and possibly the introduction of
new diseases. Since the loss of shellfish ecosystems in Australia largely occurred outside of living memory, only
recently have we begun to understand the true historic extent of shellfish ecosystems and the critical role they
play in supporting fish production, natural water purification and biodiversity.

Oyster-dominated shellfish ecosystems were once a dominant feature of the Noosa River estuary, feeding the
local Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners and early European settlers in the region. The commercial oyster industry, in
the Noosa River, commenced in the 1870’s or 1880s, and ceased, having become economically unviable, by the
1940’s13.

The Nature Conservancy will work alongside the Noosa Shire Council (NSC), commercial and recreational fishers,
and the community to restore rock oyster-dominant shellfish ecosystems in the Noosa River estuary.

The primary activity of the project involves laying a composite substrate, or bed of local rock rubble and dried
oyster shell, on which rock oysters, and associated species, settle, grow and eventually ‘cement’ together to form
the oyster-dominated ecosystem. To restore shellfish ecosystems, juvenile native oysters (pre-seeded onto
recycled shells in a hatchery) will be mixed with a local igneous rock/rubble and deployed into carefully selected,
intertidal and shallow subtidal areas and positioned parallel to depth contours.

These ecosystems will be accessible to the general public. Activities associated the project, and consequent
improvement in the ecological health of the estuary, will help support the regional economy through job creation
and ecotourism. The project is modelled on successful shellfish restoration projects in Victoria, South Australia
and the United States14.

The underlying habitat substrate, which is deployed by the project, and on which the oysters and other
invertebrate species settle and grow naturally, will be designed by TNC technical staff in collaboration with
members of the Project’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and will be assessed/reviewed by engineers, where
necessary.

The project is split into three distinct phases that allows for examination and learning of lessons from previous
phases of the project that can be incorporated into subsequent phases (i.e. adaptive management principles).
These phases commenced with Phase I, an external experimental project, in which -small-scale experimental


12 Gillies CL, McLeod IM, Alleway HK, Cook P, Crawford C, Creighton C, et al. (2018) Australian shellfish ecosystems:

Past distribution, current status and future direction. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0190914.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190914
13
   Thurstan, R. H. (2015). Historical ecology of the Noosa Estuary fisheries. Report to Noosa Council, The Thomas
Foundation and The Nature Conservancy.
14
   The Nature Conservancy (2015) Measuring the Recreational Fishing Benefits of a Restored Oyster Habitat, online
via http://www.nature.org/media/texas/hmr_final_distribution.pdf


54 | Bring Back the Fish MER plan 2020 – 2022