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Tampa Bay Watch Honors Plant For Helping Install Cement Oyster Domes

Environmental restoration organization Tampa Bay Watch has recognized Rinker Materials Florida Crushed Stone Cement Plant, Brooksville for its participation in the Bayshore Boulevard Oyster Domes Project in Tampa. Rinker donated the use of their crane and staff to help lift the heavy, cement oyster domes over the seawall and into Hillsborough Bay.

The marine-friendly, concrete oyster domes promote oyster growth and create habitat for many species of fish and wading birds. The domes also stabilize the shoreline and help filter impurities out of the water. A mature oyster can filter up to 10 gallons per hour, so the more oysters, the cleaner our bays will be, Tampa Bay Watch said.

Rinker Materials was instrumental in the efficient placement of the 120-pound domes. Previously, Tampa Bay Watch staff and volunteers moved the domes by hand; the Rinker crane and experienced personnel greatly enhanced the installation process. They participated in two phases of the project, installing a total of 810 domes in 2005 and 2006.

Tampa Bay Watch Environmental Scientist Chris Sutton expressed his appreciation of the company’s contribution. “It was fantastic how much easier the Rinker Materials crane made our job, and their employees were great to work with. Their assistance played a big part in making the Bayshore project such a huge success.”

Tampa Bay Watch also has begun a new community-based habitat enhancement program to create oyster bars throughout Tampa Bay. Oyster communities help stabilize shorelines, provide hard bottom habitats for fish and wildlife resources and promote water quality improvements in the Tampa Bay ecosystem.

Tampa Bay Watch organizes community events to build oyster reefs in shoreline areas of Tampa Bay. These reefs are composed of fossilized oyster shell and are constructed structurally similar to natural oyster communities found throughout Tampa Bay.

On the day of an oyster-building event, community groups and local volunteers shovel loose oyster shell into buckets. Volunteer boaters also participate by delivering the buckets of shell to the site where the oyster bars are to be constructed. The buckets of shell are handed off to other volunteers and staff, who deposit the shell on the tidal flats.

Tampa Bay Watch is a non-profit 501 (c)(3) stewardship program dedicated exclusively to the charitable and scientific purpose of protecting and restoring the marine and wetland environments of the Tampa Bay estuary encompassing over 400 square miles of open water and 2,300 square miles of highly developed watershed. Tampa Bay Watch involves more than 10,000 youth and adult volunteers each year in hands-on habitat restoration projects.

For more information of upcoming events, becoming a volunteer or member, call 727-867-8166.