Developing Living Shorelines using Oysters on the Texas Coast

Living shorelines are nature-based approaches that incorporate natural elements such as oysters to protect shorelines from erosion while offering enhanced ecological benefits including provision of critical habitat, improved water quality and sediment stabilization, and enhancement of aquatic biodiversity.

In areas where source populations of oysters are depleted, hatchery-reared oysters may be used to “seed” living shorelines and jumpstart local oyster population development and provision of associated ecosystem benefits.

This project seeks to identify and map suitable locations for living shorelines along the central Texas coast and to evaluate the effectiveness of seeding living shorelines with hatchery-reared oysters to establish self-sustaining oyster populations. The project's objectives include: (1) mapping suitable living shoreline locations, (2) establishing and seeding 2-3 pilot living shoreline sites with hatchery-grown oysters, (3) evaluating the development of oyster populations at these sites over one year, and (4) creating a factsheet with findings and recommendations.

Methods involve desktop and field assessments, geospatial analysis, site selection, hatchery oyster production, and field monitoring. The project will enhance NRCS Conservation Practice Standard Code 580 by providing practical guidelines for living shoreline implementation, ultimately improving coastal protection and oyster populations.