Oyster reef habitat creation using coal ash in the Chesapeake Bay

Reconstruction of historical three-dimensional reef structures has become one of the cornerstone activities for oyster resource restoration by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. Reefs have been constructed with either bottom materials on site or by using shell cultch transported onto the construction sites. Since shell costs are the largest part of the both construction methods, and shells are becoming increasingly scarce, alternative cultch materials are being investigated. The ideal cultch material should be equal to shell as acceptable reef substrate, while at the same time being comparable, or hopefully less expensive as a construction material. Pelletized fly ash, a coal combustion byproduct, appears to potentially be a useful alternative cultch material. Projects in both Texas and Delaware have demonstrated that coal ash byproducts can substitute as oyster cultch. Grant no. NA66FU0241