- October 17, 2024
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Volunteers Baker Kelso, Jill Kelso, Rick Patella and Theresa Sherman help make vertical oyster gardens during the workday on Saturday, June 22. Courtesy photo
Volunteers Brian Alexander, Carol Murray and Scott Skare help make vertical oyster gardens for Ormond Beach residents during the workday on Saturday, June 22. Courtesy photo
Volunteers Edee Dalke, publisher of Stroll Ormond Beach Waterfront, and Carrie Johnson help make vertical oyster gardens during the workday on Saturday, June 22. Courtesy photo
Ormond Beach resident David Slick watches as Logan Kennovin, of Coastal Conservation Association Florida, explains how vertical oyster gardens work at the first "Oysters for Ormond" initiative meeting. Courtesy photo
Bill Ruddy pours oysters in a pile for the drill press operators. Courtesy photo
Ormond Beach residents David Slick and Cindy Keen (far right) watch as Logan Kennovin, of Coastal Conservation Association Florida, pulls up one of Chuck Gleichmann's vertical oyster gardens. Courtesy photo
When Capt. Chuck Gleichmann first moved to Ormond Beach, he could walk to the end of his dock and still count the pebbles on the bottom of the Halifax River.
That's how clear the water was 20 years ago, he said.
Today, the water around his dock is more of a mustard color, Gleichmann said. You can no longer count the pebbles. It's too murky.
"From a very selfish standpoint, I moved here so I could fish a couple to three days a week," Gleichmann said. "Catch some fish and enjoy a beautiful environment. This is a beautiful place to live and it's really a shame to have the water quality deteriorate the way that it has."
That's why a group of Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea residents, including Gleichmann, are taking a collective first step to help clean the Halifax River.
How? By installing vertical oyster gardens — 600 of them, all on private docks.
Earlier this year, Gleichmann, an avid fisherman, had read an article in Florida Sportsman magazine about how oyster gardens had improved the water quality in Tampa Bay. He spoke with the magazine's editor-in-chief, who put him in contact with the reporter.
The more he read about oyster gardens, the more Gleichmann, a lifetime member of the Coastal Conservation Association of Florida, said he thought they could help locally. He ran the concept by both the CCA and contacts at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, who provided him with enough guidance that he felt comfortable reaching out to Edee Dalke, publisher of Stroll Ormond Beach Waterfront, a private newsletter that is mailed to about 530 local riverfront homes.
Dalke doesn't live on the river, but as the publisher of the newsletter, she saw an opportunity to help spread the word about oyster gardens.
"I read that article, and [Gleichmann] just said, 'What do you think?'" Dalke said. "I just wrote back, 'Yes, yes, yes.'"
On June 1, 22 residents crammed into Gleichmannn's living room after reading and answering the newsletter's call for volunteers to help with the "Oysters for Ormond" initiative.
At that meeting, Logan Kennovin, CCA assistant director of Habitat and Environmental Restoration, educated the residents on how vertical oyster gardens help clean the river. But, he also revealed to the residents that the best time to install the vertical oyster gardens was now, as June to August is prime time to recruit oyster larvae, known as spat.
The spat attach themselves to recycled oyster shells and grow into new live oysters. An adult live oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, Kennovin said.
"It's not a one-time solution to fixing water quality in the Halifax River, but it's a large step to raising awareness of the problem and getting the community engaged in creating a solution — in finding a solution," Kennovin said.
The residents planned a workday immediately. On the morning of Saturday, June 22, a total of 61 people came out to River Lily Inn in Holly Hill to wash, drill and assemble recycled oyster shells to create vertical oyster garden kits.
The volunteers made 248 kits that morning — drilling about 12,400 oysters, as each kit is made up of 50 shells.
It's not a one-time solution to fixing water quality in the Halifax River, but it's a large step to raising awareness of the problem and getting the community engaged in creating a solution — in finding a solution." — LOGAN KENNOVIN, CCA assistant director of Habitat and Environmental Restoration
Dalke told the Observer that they ran out of oysters, but that more workdays are planned to reach their goal of installing 600 vertical oyster gardens in Ormond Beach. As the effort is sponsored, Ormond dock owners are receiving the kits for free.
"We're not doing this for any other community, but we hope very strongly that other communities will say, 'Well, we want gardens on our docks,'" Dalke said.
The initiative is sponsored in part by West Marine, CCI, Stroll Ormond Beach Waterfront, River Lily Inn, Keys Deck and Dock, Custom Built Docks, Spa's Etc, Carpet Color and Tile, local attorney Mel Stack and private donations.
CCA launched its vertical oyster garden program about a year ago. Since then, Kennovin said it has drawn a lot of interest from local communities because of its hands-on aspect.
The Ormond initiative will be CCA's fourth project in the program — and when completed, the largest to date.
One thing residents should keep in mind is that the vertical oyster gardens are a small scale restoration project. However, if a resident has several hanging from their dock, they will see a change in water quality and clarity over time in their small area, Kennovin said, as well as an increase in biodiversity.
"Oyster reefs are essentially the coral reefs of estuaries, and they provide habitat for a number of sessile and invertebrates and other marine species, which then will begin to attract the larger predators as these little crabs and little shrimp and minnows and whatnot begin to burrow and hide themselves within the established vertical oyster garden," he said.
That will in turn attract larger predators, such as sheepshead, redfish, black drum and others.
It's just so natural and simple. We're not doing anything except using nature to do what it does best." — EDEE DALKE, publisher of Stroll Ormond Beach Waterfront
Community engagement and awareness is huge, Kennovin said.
"It's awesome to see how much initial interest we got in this project throughout the community, and how engaged everyone has been and excited to come out and create these vertical oyster gardens and get them in the water," he said.
Gleichmann has three vertical oyster gardens hanging off his docks.
At the June 1 meeting, when Kennovin was explaining how the gardens worked, he pulled one out from the water and all those in attendance could see the baby oysters clinging to the recycled shells.
His vertical oyster gardens have been hanging off his dock for about two months. Tiny blue claw crabs have also moved into the gardens.
"Pretty excited about all of it," Gleichmann said. "It looks like it's going to be viable and we've gotten a really, really great response from our local citizens up and down the river."
He's hoping the residents will be able to raise enough awareness about their efforts to get the attention of local governments, which may be more motivated to help improve the river's water quality, as well as motivate other communities to follow in their footsteps.
Everyone who has lived along the river, or lived in the area for a long time, has seen what's happened to the Halifax River's water quality. Getting involved in the vertical oyster garden initiative, he said, is an opportunity to make an impact.
"We're just trying to make a difference," Gleichmann said.
Vertical oyster gardens could also serve as indicators of where oyster spat recruitment is highest, Kennovin said. That may help determine which areas of the river would work best for larger scale oyster restoration projects.
Dalke said she's "extremely passionate" about the initiative.
"And it's so simple," she said. "It's just so natural and simple. We're not doing anything except using nature to do what it does best."
Want to participate in an upcoming workday or acquire a vertical oyster garden for your dock? Visit the Oysters for Ormond page on Facebook.
