TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Watch is working to install oyster reef balls off the shoreline of MacDill Air Force Base. 

The reef balls will help increase the eastern oyster population in Tampa Bay, important marine life that helps filter the water close to shore.

What You Need To Know

  • Tampa Bay Watch is a non-profit environmental group promoting the health of the water of Tampa Bay

  • The group is installing Oyster Reef Balls off the shoreline of MacDill Air Force Base this week

  • The reefs will help increase the population of Eastern Oysters in the Bay 

  • The reefs are built to last years and will serve as a home for oysters, fish, crabs and other marine life  

  • Tampa Bay Watch Discovery Center

Richard Radigan, the Oyster Shell Program manager with Tampa Bay Watch, described the process as volunteers prepared the oyster reef balls for deployment. 

“The oyster reef balls serve a number of different functions for our bay,” said Radigan.  “One, they help mitigate wave action thus preventing shoreline or reducing shoreline erosion, and two they serve as habitat for oyster populations which are beneficial in a number of different ways for our bay.”

The oyster reef balls are constructed with concrete and additives that increases the longevity of the reefs.

Tampa Bay Watch stated the reefs will last for years submerged in water, not only increasing the population of eastern oysters, but also serving as a home for fish, crabs and other marine life.

More than 20 volunteers will help place the reef balls today.

For more information on volunteering for future Tampa Bay Watch projects, visit here https://www.tbwdiscoverycenter.org.