Ecosystem services provided by Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida) habitat and Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) habitat; Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) production in Willapa Bay, WA

• Main Author: Ramsay, Jessica
• Other Authors: Conway, Flaxen, Flitcroft, Rebecca, Henkel, Sarah
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State Unversity
• Subjects: Pacific oyster > Habitat > Willapa Bay (Wash.); Dungeness crab > Willapa Bay (Wash.); Olympia oyster > Habitat > Willapa Bay (Wash.); Pacific; Crassostrea gigas; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_projects/fj236741w

Oyster reefs provide an array of ecosystem services. Specifically, they provide structurally complex habitat for fish and invertebrate species such as the commercially important Dungeness crab, Metacarcinus magister. This ecosystem service, once provided by the native oyster Ostrea lurida, is now provided by the commercially cultured oyster Crassostrea gigas in many estuaries on the U.S west coast. An economic investigation was conducted examining the ecosystem services provided by oyster habitat, common economic valuation theories and techniques, and tradeoffs between oyster restoration and aquaculture expansion. A scientific investigation, comprised of three studies, was also conducted to examine Dungeness crab production as an ecosystem service provided by oyster habitat. Because natural ecosystems, such as oyster reefs, provide beneficial goods and services through time, they should be valued as any other economic asset or capital. Until recently many of these beneficial services have not been accounted for within resource management plans, often resulting in the over-exploitation of those resources. Activities such as coastal development, dredging, aquaculture expansion, or even habitat restoration can affect estuarine ecosystems. While valuing the ecosystems themselves might be difficult, valuation of the services they provide can be a useful tool for identifying and protecting key ecosystem services while implementing plans with minimal negative impact. The oysters, O. lurida and C. gigas inhabit different regions of the tidal zone. O. lurida is predominantly found in subtidal and low intertidal regions whereas C. gigas is predominantly found in intertidal regions. The shift in the dominant species has resulted in a subsequent shift of available recruitment habitat for M. magister. We conducted an across-estuary study to examine settlement of M. magister in existing O. lurida, C. gigas, eelgrass, and open mud habitats in Willapa Bay, WA, Netarts Bay, OR, and Coos Bay, OR, to determine tradeoffs in crab ...