Oyster and associated fauna counts and lengths from restored and reference reefs in the coastal bays of Virginia, 2005-2019

This dataset has been superceded by Lusk, B., R. Smith, and M.C.N. Castorani. 2024. Oyster fauna lengths, counts, and biomass from restored and reference reefs in Virginia coastal bays, 2005-2023 ver 1. Environmental Data Initiative. https://doi.org/10.6073/pasta/d68de69f29cee5f737313a07f813f245 (Accessed 2024-02-22). which includes additional years and parameters. Oyster and associated reef fauna counts and lengths were sampled at 16 natural reference reefs and 61 restored shell plant reefs located at 18 sites in the Virginia Coast Reserve. Overfishing and disease decimated oyster reefs in the Virginia Coast Reserve in the 1900s. Reference reefs were defined as remnant reefs that naturally recovered in the early 2000s to develop the pronounced vertical structure and multiple oyster size classes that represent the desired endpoint of restoration efforts. Nearly every year since 2003, The Nature Conservancy and Virginia Marine Resource Commission have constructed oyster reefs in intertidal areas in the VCR. To construct the restored reefs, practitioners applied dredged, fossilized oyster shell to intertidal locations chosen for their bottom stability and accessibility (locations lacked oysters prior to construction). Whelk shell supplemented the oyster shell at 9 of the restored reefs.