SITUATION REPORT
WATER QUALITY AND OYSTER SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN THE GUANA TOLOMATO MATANZAS NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE
In efforts to investigate the water quality and the Eastern Oyster population status, the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) and local business owner, Frank Usina, supported an internship responsible for collecting and synthesizing all available reports, monitoring data, and harvesting history/maps. The ultimate goal of the internship and situation report was to review water quality assessments and other issues related to a sustainable oyster fishery in the northeast Florida region. Additionally, this provided prioritized actionable objectives for the GTM NERR and northeast Florida stakeholders to focus on for the protection of water quality and sustainability of oyster populations and oyster harvesting.
The knowledge of northeast Florida harvesters was collected as an oral history at a “Shuck and Tell” event in 2015. The “Shuck and Tell” event accounted for the personal experiences, reflections, and personal opinions regarding the current oyster harvesting status as well as where they hope efforts are directed to sustain the oyster population. This information is important to compile a complete story of the oyster harvesting within the northeast Florida region. It is imperative that the fishermen and harvester knowledge complement the scientific datasets and studies, not replace them. To hear the oral histories of harvesting, view the video to the right!